CONSERVATION  OF  NATURAL 
GAS  !N  KENTUCKY 

~ 

W1LLARO   ROUSE   JILLSON 


EXCHANGE 


OTHER  BOOKS 

BY 

DR.  WlLLARD  ROUSE  JlLLSON 


GEOLOGY 

Oil  and  Gas  Resources  of  Kentucky,   1919. 
Geology  and  Coals  of  Stinking  Creek,   1919. 
Contribution,  to  Kentucky)   Geologij,    1920. 
Economic  Paper,  on  Kentucky  Geology,   1921. 
Production  of  Eastern    Kentucky    Crude    Oils,   1921 
The  Sixth  Geological  Survey,   1921. 
Oil  Field  Stratigraphy  of  Kentucky,   1922. 

HISTORY 

The  Coal  Industry  in  Kentucky,   1922 

BIOGRAPHY 

Edwin  P.  Morrow— Kentuckian,  1922. 

VERSE 

Songs  and  Satires,    1920. 


THE 

CONSERVATION  OF  NATURAL  GAS 
IN  KENTUCKY 


A  GAS  FIELD  WASTE 

In  this  Eastern  Kentucky  well  the  driller  is  Wowing  the  "gas  head" 
off.    The  well  produced  oil,  which  the  driller  wasted  as  "an  experiment." 


THE  i   l^i 

Conservation  of  Natural  Gas 
In  Kentucky 


BY 

WlLLARD    ROUSE    JlLLSON 
B.  S.,  M.  S.,  Sc.  D. 

Director  and  State  Geologist  of  the  Kentucky 
Geological  Survey 


Illustrated  with  Forty-four  New  Photographs 
Maps   and   Diagrams 


FIRST  EDITION 


JOHN  P.  MORTON  &  COMPANY 

INCORPORATED 
LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY 

1922 


Copyright  1922  By 
WILLARD  ROUSE  JILLSON 


All  Rights  Reserved 


To  My 

FATHER 

From  whom  I  learned  in  youth  the  value  of 

Patience  and  Perseverance 

this  little  book 

is 
dedicated 


CONTENTS 


Page 
Illustrations  9 

Preface 11 

CHAPTER  I 
The  Age  of  Waste 17 

CHAPTER  II 
Natural  Gas  Resources  of  Kentucky 26 

CHAPTER  III 
Our  Natural  Gas  Industries 68 

CHAPTER  IV 
Trend  of  Critical  Comment 103 

CHAPTER  V 
Natural  Gas  Conservation __124 


Selected  Bibliography 145 

Index __147 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
A  Gas  Field  Waste Frontispiece 

1.  A  Pipe  Line  Nearly  on  End -  18 

2.  Ignorance  Resulting  in  Loss 21 

3.  A  Gasser  Correctly  Closed  In 24 

4.  Gas  Pipe  Line  Construction  in  Timber 27 

5.  A  Standard  Drilling  Rig—  .--28 

6.  A  Taylor  County  Gasser 29 

7.  Natural  Gas  Pools  and  Pipe  Lines  (Map) 32 

8.  Location,  and  Decline  Curves  of  Beaver  Creek  Gas  Field  34 

9.  Location,  and  Decline  Curves  of  Martin  County  Gas 

Field  38 

10.  Location,  and  Decline  Curves  of  Win  Gas  Field 42 

11.  Location,  and  Decline  Curves  of  Menifee  County  Gas 

Field  -  48 

12.  Location,  and  Decline   Curves  of  Meade  County  Gas 

Field  • 54 

13.  An  Oil  Field  Waste 56 

14.  A  Natural  Gas  Structure 60 

15.  Drilling  for  Gas  with  a  Portable  Rig 63 

16.  Preliminary  Work  on  Gas  Pipe  Line 70 

17.  Up  Hill,  Down  Hill,  and  On 71 

18.  Kentucky  Produced  and  Imported  Natural  Gas 74 

19.  Central    Kentucky   Natural    Gas    Company's    Pressure 

Plant 78 

20.  Eastern  Carbon  Plant  in  Operation 80 

21.  North  View  of  Liberty  Carbon  Plant 84 

22.  Northeastern  View  of  Eastern  Carbon  Plant- 86 

23.  Making  Natural  Gas  Carbon  Black 89 

24.  A  Portable  Drilling  Rig . 91 

25.  Liberty  Carbon  Plant  in  Operation 93 

26.  Railroad  Yard — Liberty  Carbon  Company,  Floyd  County, 

Kentucky 95 

27.  A  Portion  of  the  Beaver  Creek  Gas  Field  (Map) 96 

28.  Not  Bathing — Repairing  a  Leak 98 

29.  Lowering  a  Twelve-Inch  Line 101 

30.  Gas  Line  Construction  in  Johnson  County 104 

31.  Not  a  Quarry — A  Pipe  Line 106 

32.  "Blowing  a  Gasser" 108 


Page 

33.  A  Temple  Hill  Gasser  "Closed  In" 111 

34.  Gas  Pipe  Lines  Must  Cross  Creeks 115 

35.  What  the  Consumer  Does  Not  Know 125 

36.  Ready  for  the  Gas  Main 127 

37.  Where  a  Pipe  Line  Withstood  a  Washout 130 

38.  A  "Closed  In"  Kentucky  Gasser 132 

39.  A  Twelve-Inch  Gas  Pipe  Line  Crossing  the  Kentucky 

River    134 

40.  Drainage  vs.  a  Gas  Pipe  Line 137 

41.  A  Menifee  County  "Booster" 139 

42.  A  Gas  Pipe  Line  Near  the  Big  Sandy 141 

43.  Telephone  Line  and  Natural  Gas  Pipe  Line 143 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 


CONSERVATION  is  not  a  word  to  be  dealt  with 
lightly.    Its  implications  are  many,  and  its  value 
frequently  has  to  be  accepted  as  good  while  con- 
tingent upon  a  future  return.    A  practical  application  of 
conservation  always  necessitates  an  industrial  readjust- 
ment, and  this  in  turn  generally  brings  about  financial 
and  business  hardships  for  various  individuals  and  cor- 
porations.   The  interests  of  a  large  community  or  group 
of  communities  have  never  been  advanced  except  at  the 
sacrifice  of  the  few. 

In  the  natural  gas  problem  the  necessity  for  immediate 
conservation  is  perhaps  more  vividly  apparent  than  in 
any  of  the  other  mineral  resources.  This  is  particularly 
true  of  the  gas  reserves  of  Kentucky.  The  really  serious 
situation  which  has  developed  in  our  sister  States  of 
West  Virginia,  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  may  be  delayed 
in  Kentucky  if  effective  preservation  measures  are  intro- 
duced at  once.  The  matter  is  urgent.  As  in  all  regional 
problems  of  natural  resource  conservation,  the  actual 
co-operation  of  the  individual  producer  and  consumer,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  conservation-effecting  agent,  will  be 
required  if  the  best  results  are  to  be  obtained. 


State  Geologist  of  Kentucky. 


Old  State  Capitol, 
Frankfort,  Kentucky. 
January  15,  1922. 


THE 

CONSERVATION  OF  NATURAL  GAS 
IN  KENTUCKY 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  AGE  OF  WASTE 

At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  the  rate  of 
industrial  expansion  been  as  rapid  as  during  the  past 
decade.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  United  States.  The 
Northeastern  and  Middle  West  manufacturing  regions  of 
this  country  have  literally  been  hives  of  industry.  As 
might  naturally  be  expected,  the  development  of  the 
mineral  resources  of  the  world  and  of  the  United  States 
in  particular  has  plunged  ahead  at  an  unprecedented 
rate  during  this  period.  Mining  has  been,  in  fact,  a 
complement  of  our  industrial  growth. 

New  manufacturing  industries,  as  well  as  new  kinds 
of  manufacturing,  have  created  new  and  increased 
markets,  and  an  incessant  demand  for  the  basic  crude 
minerals  of  this  country.  This  has  been  true  of  coal, 
petroleum,  gas,  and  the  iron,  lead,  zinc  and  copper  ores. 
The  drain  has  been  particularly  severe  at  the  same  time 
on  the  forest  resources  of  this  country,  especially  the 
southern  Appalachian  region ;  but  this  latter  problem  is 
outside  the  province  of  this  discussion,  though  eco- 
nomically closely  related  to  it. 

In  the  feverish  haste  of  the  mineral  resource  pro- 
ducers to  supply  an  ever  growing  and  gluttonous  market 
on  all  sides,  there  has  crept  unheeded  and  unchallenged 
into  the  producing  industries  such  practices  as  should  not 
only  shock  our  present  day  somewhat  skeptical  con- 
sciences, but  cause  us  to  anxiously  contemplate  the 
probable  status  of  our  national  economic  security  in  the 
not  too  far  distant  future.  Certain  it  is  that  in  the  years 
to  come  our  posterity  will  be  forced  to  solve  many  difficult 
and  entirely  unnecessary  mineral  producing  problems 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


because  of  our  present  day  reckless  extravagance.  At  the 
same  time  very  greatly  reduced  supplies  of  mineral 
resources  and  their  widespread  substitution  will  become 
the  rule. 

NATURAL  GAS  DEPLETION  AT  HAND 

Indeed  the  first  day  of  natural  resource  diminution 
and  hunger  is  at  hand.  Figures  compiled  for  the  entire 
United  States  show  that  the  peak  natural  gas  production 
of  795,110,376,000  cubic  feet  was  reached  in  1917.  This 
great  fuel  resource,  once  considered  an  oil  field  liability, 
later  an  important  by-product,  and  finally  a  household 
and  industrial  necessity,  decreased  74,109,417,000  cubic 
feet  or  9  per  cent  in  1918.  Present  indications  are  that 
the  decline  has  continued  on  down  through  1919,  1920, 
and  1921,  though  the  exact  figures  to  verify  this  statement 
are  not  available  now. 

The  situation  during  the  last  few  years  has  become  so 
acute  that  many  industries  using  natural  gas  have  been 
forced  to  abandon  it.  Domestic  and  industrial  consumers 
in  outlying  sections  have  been  forced  to  substitute  coal, 
and  in  those  municipalities  located  close  to  or  within  the 
great  gas  fields  of  the  Appalachian  region  rates  for  pur- 
chase have  been  rapidly  increased  as  the  supply  has 
waned.  In  such  cities  as  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Cincin- 
nati, Huntington,  Charleston,  Wheeling,  Ashland,  Lex- 
ington, Louisville,  and  Pittsburgh  there  has  already  been 
introduced  or  is  now  in  the  process  of  introduction  a 
sliding  upward  scale  for  the  purchase  of  natural  gas. 
Some  conservation  legislation  has  also  been  introduced  in 
the  Appalachian  district  to  keep  unused  supplies  of 
natural  gas  within  the  boundaries  of  the  State  in  which 
it  is  produced. 


THE  AGE  OF  WASTE  17 


PETROLEUM  RESERVES  ARE  LIMITED 

The  interpretation  of  a  special  report  recently  com- 
pleted showing  the  petroleum  reserves  of  the  United 
States  to  be  9,150,000,000  barrels,  indicates  clearly  that 
the  pangs  of  severe  mineral  resource  hunger  will  in  all 
probability  be  felt  in  this  industry  between  1940  and 
1950.  The  following  passages  excerpted  from  this  report* 
allow  but  a  single  construction — the  imperative  need  of 
rigid  economy  and  conservation: 

".  .  .  .  the  oil  reserves  of  the  country,  as  the 
public  has  frequently  been  warned,  appear  adequate  to 
supply  the  demand  for  only  a  limited  number  of  years. 
The  annual  production  of  the  country  is  now  almost  half 
a  billion  barrels,  but  the  annual  consumption,  already 
well  beyond  the  half  billion  mark,  is  still  growing.  For 
some  years  we  have  had  to  import  oil,  and  with  the 
growth  in  demand,  our  dependence  on  foreign  oil  has 
become  steadily  greater,  in  spite  of  our  own  increase  in 
output.  It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States  should  be  informed  as  fully  as  possible  as 
to  the  reserves  now  left  in  this  country 

"The  estimated  reserves  are  enough  to  satisfy  the 
present  requirements  of  the  United  States  for  only  20 
years,  if  the  oil  could  be  taken  out  of  the  ground  as  fast 
as  it  is  wanted.  Should  these  estimates  fall  even  so  much 
as  two  billion  barrels  short  of  the  actual  recovery,  that 
error  of  22  per  cent  would  be  equivalent  to  but  four 
years'  supply,  a  relatively  short  extension  of  life.  .  .  . 

' '  In  the  light  of  these  estimates  as  to  the  extent  of  our 
supplies  of  natural  petroleum,  the  committee  points  out 
the  stern  obligation  of  the  citizen,  the  producer,  and  the 
Government  to  give  most  serious  study  to  the  more  com- 


Press  notice  U.  S.  G.  S.  12198,  January,  1922. 


18 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


A  PIPE  LINE  NEARLY  ON  END 

The  construction  of  a  natural  gas  pipe  line  in  Eastern  Kentucky  is 
attended  with  great  difficulty,  as  this  view  shows. 


THE  AGE  OF  WASTE  19 


plete  extraction  of  the  oil  from  the  ground,  as  well  as  to 
the  avoidance  of  waste,  either  through  direct  losses  or 
through  misuse  of  crude  oil  or  its  products/' 

As  the  domestic  supply  of  natural  petroleum  de- 
creases, prices  for  the  many  commodity  necessities  refined 
from  it  will  increase  materially  and  progressively. 
Throughout  this  country  those  industries  and  individuals 
making  use  of  products  refined  from  petroleum  will  be 
forced  to  meet  the  advancing  cost.  Such  costs  for  many 
will  be  prohibitive.  Substitutes  -both  good  and  bad  will 
flood  the  market.  Inferior  makeshifts  will  no  doubt 
depreciate  the  arts  and  many  industries.  The  automo- 
bile and  the  industrial  gas  engine  will  in  a  large  measure 
become  relics,  unless  an  adequate  substitute  for  gasoline 
is  produced  and  sold  for  a  reasonable  price.  Large  users 
of  such  necessary  by-products  as  lubricating  oils  will 
find  themselves  confronted  by  a  distinctly  serious 
situation. 

COAL  PRODUCTION  Is  WASTEFUL 

Conditions  attending  the  development  of  the  coal  re- 
sources of  Kentucky  are  strictly  comparable  to  those 
found  elsewhere  in  the  recently  exploited  coal  fields  of 
the  United  States,  and.  will  serve  as  an  interesting 
example  of  our  lawless  prodigality.  In  the  eastern  and 
western  coal  fields  of  Kentucky  there  is  much  being  done 
in  the  way  of  attempted  coal  production  that  honestly 
invites  the  most  severe  criticism.  While  it  is  true  that 
most  of  the  larger  companies  have  operated  their  proper- 
ties from  the  start  along  the  lines  of  the  best  engineering 
practice,  it  is  known  that  hundreds  have  gone  about  the 
production  of  coal  with  little  or  no  mining  system  at  all. 

In  many  cases  owners  of  small  coal  mines  are  entirely 
inexperienced  in  the  coal  producing  business  prior  to 


20  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

starting  their  new  mining  operations.  In  response  to  the 
unusual  demand  for  the  product,  properties  have  'been 
acquired  and  the  new  so-called  operators  have  proceeded 
to  produce  coal  from  these  new  properties.  The  result 
has  always  been  a  long  succession  of  mistakes  and 
failures,  since  such  operations  are  largely  an  experi- 
ment at  every  step.  This  deplorable  condition  of  affairs 
has  been  particularly  true  of  the  small  "one-horse' 
mines,  and  the  wagon  mines ;  but  many  instances  of  much 
larger  operations  could  be  cited  in  both  the  eastern  and 
western  coal  fields.  Fallen-in  entries,  tumbled-down 
tipples,  and  brush  covered  railroad  spurs  are  the  common 
ear  marks  of  the  present  day  failure  of  this  kind  of 
coal  mining. 

The  ultimate  results  of  such  mining  methods  are 
obvious  upon  casual  inspection.  The  experienced  operator 
using  systematic  methods  calls  it  "ground-hogging"  coal; 
but  no  term  of  derision  is  strong  enough  to  adequately 
describe  the  practice.  Without  method  or  principle,  the 
would-be  operator  removes  that  coal  which  is  most  easily 
obtained.  He  runs  his  entries  in  all  directions,  and 
generally  has  no  mine  map  to  show  what  amount  of  coal 
he  has  moved  and  what  remains  to  be  operated.  His 
rooms  are  of  all  sizes,  shapes,  and  descriptions,  generally 
untimbered,  with  slate  and  coal  "gobbed"  at  the  right 
or  the  left,  as  has  suited  best  his  present  convenience. 
Mine  water  has  been  given  little  if  any  attention,  and  not 
infrequently  whole  rooms  are  drowned  out  and  abandoned 
long  before  they  are  completely  mined.  In  the  end  this 
kind  of  coal  mining  leaves  not  infrequently  50  to  75  per 
cent  of  the  coal  in  the  ground  as  pillars,  walls,  partly  cut, 
drowned  out  and  unmined  units. 


THE  AGE  OF  WASTE 


21 


When  he  has  brought  his  property  into  this  state  of 
chaos,  the  untrained  operator  generally  abandons  it,  and 
turns  to  virgin  properties  for  a  repetition  of  the  same 
performance.  The  coal  remaining  in  such  abandoned 
properties  generally  is,  or  will  be  within  a  few  years, 
beyond  recovery.  Due  to  the  softening  effects  of  mine 
water,  roofs  will  have  fallen  in,  pillars  will  have  collapsed, 
and  other  conditions  developed  which  will  make  the 
future  operation  on  any  such  property  not  only  extremely 


IGNORANCE   RESULTING  IN  LOSS 

This  well  which  is  located  in  Clay  County  was  an  excellent  gasser.  It 
was  left  without  proper  casing  and  tubing.  Salt  water  softened  a  shale 
at  some  depth  and  it  caved  in,  ruining  the  hole  and  shutting  off  the  gas. 

hazardous  and  expensive,  but  quite  impossible  from  a 
commercial  standpoint.  Instead  of  mining  practically 
all  of  his  coal  as  engineering  methods  allow,  he  has  left 
a  very  large  percentage  in  the  ground.  This  portion, 
whatever  it  amounts  to,  has  been  lost  to  the  world  for  all 
time.  It  has  been  deliberately  wasted ! 


22  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

IGNORANCE  PRODUCES  OIL  LOSSES 

In  Kentucky's  oil  fields,  the  same  kind  of  wasteful 
operator  may  be  found  at  every  hand.  With  nothing 
better  to  do,  he  organizes  an  oil  company  and  starts  to 
drill  wells  without  any  idea  as  to  the  geological  or  drilling 
problems  which  he  must  encounter.  He  is  almost  certain 
to  drill  through  the  oil  sands  "by  mistake,"  allowing  the 
oil  in  many  cases  to  drain  away  into  porous  strata  below, 
or  the  salt  water  of  underlying  strata  to  find  its  way  up 
into  the  oil  sand. 

Any  of  these  practices  operate  to  bring  ruin  on  the 
property.  If  continued  over  a  number  of  adjoining 
productive  leases  they  will  endanger  the  life  and  pro- 
ductivity of  the  field  by  dissipating  the  oil  in  the  sand. 
In  the  terms  of  the  driller,  such  practices  bring  about  a 
"drowning  out"  of  the  petroleum.  The  inexperienced 
operator,  if  he  strikes  gusher  oil,  is  generally  not  pre- 
pared to  save  it,  and  in  any  event  will  lose  much  at  the 
casinghead.  Not  infrequently  he  will  tank  it  in  an  open 
tank  for  several  months  or  years,  while  he  is  making  a 
shift  to  get  a  pipe-line  connection,  and  occasionally  loses 
it  by  fire  or  other  disaster  before  he  can  run  it  into  a  line. 

If  the  first  well  is  a  small  producer,  he  will  frequently 
abandon  it,  as  he  thinks  temporarily.  In  the  meantime 
water  will  take  possession  of  it  and  ruin  its  productive 
qualities.  If  he  has  developed  gas  in  small  quantities 
with  his  oil,  he  will  let  the  well  blow  open,  thinking  that 
by  reducing  the  rock  pressure  of  his  gas  he  will  increase 
at  the  same  time  the  flow  of  the  oil.  He  very  seldom 
obtains  the  selfish  results  desired,  however,  but  does 
generally  succeed  in  disrupting  the  proper  relationship 
of  gas  and  oil  reserves  of  his  own  lease.  His  practices 
also  tend  to  work  havoc  with  the  properties  of  adjoining 


THE  AGE  OF  WASTE  23 


leases,  and  frequently  the  entire  field.  Instead  of  setting 
up  such  forces  in  the  oil  "sand"  as  might  result  in  an 
increased  accumulation  of  commercial  petroleum,  he 
not  infrequently  develops  a  greater  tendency  toward 
petroleum  dissemination.  This  ultimately  results  in  mak- 
ing the  field  less  commercial  and  less  productive  than  at 
the  time  the  well  was  drilled  in.  When  it  is  taken  into 
consideration  that  between  50  per  cent  and  80  per  cent 
of  all  the  oil  originally  in  the  "sand"  will  remain  in  the 
ground  after  present  producing  methods  have  been 
exhausted,  the  total  loss,  including  that  induced  by 
ignorance  and  folly,  is  very  great  indeed. 

Irregularity  of  pumping  any  group  of  wells  in  an  oil 
field  will  induce  the  pasting  up  of  the  oil  sands  with 
natural  waxes  to  such  an  extent  that  wells  so  attended 
will  naturally  fall  off  gradually  in  their  production.  In 
abandoning  his  property,  if  it  is  not  a  large  producer, 
many  an  operator  has  pulled  the  casing  and  failed  to 
plug  the  water  and  oil  sands.  The  result  of  this  unlawful 
practice,  as  might  be  cited  in  some  of  the  Knox  County, 
Kentucky,  fields,  has  been  to  fill  the  oil  sands  with  water. 
The  oil  which  these  sands  contained  is  slowly  but  surely 
driven  out  of  commercial  pools  under  the  water  pressure, 
and  widely  disseminated  through  new  and  unknown 
regions  adjacent.  Wherever  this  oil  spoliation  has  taken 
place  the  present  generation  may  be  accused  of  a  wanton 
mineral  resource  waste,  the  great  value  of  which  it  is 
quite  as  impossible  to  estimate  as  it  is  to  recover. 

NATURAL  GAS  WASTE  STATEWIDE 

The  natural  gas  fields  of  Kentucky  are  well  acquainted 
with  the  reckless  operator.  In  this  State  hundreds  of 
excellent  gas  wells  have  been  drilled  in  eastern,  western 


24 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


and  southern  Kentucky,  and  have  been  allowed  to  return 
unused  their  priceless  treasure  to  the  atmosphere. 
Notable  examples  of  this  practice,  which  it  is  true  in 
recent  years  has  been  somewhat  corrected,  occur  in  the 


A      GASSER   CORRECTLY  CLOSED  IN 

Although  the  drilling  rig  is  still  at  this  location,  the  driller  has  already 
got  his  well  "closed  in"  and  is  saving  the  gas. 

Floyd,  Johnson,   Barren,   Green,   Taylor,   and  Grayson 
County  gas  fields.     Some  eastern  Kentucky  wells  have 


THE  AGE  OF  WASTE  25 


been  allowed  in  the  recent  past  to  blow  open  for  years, 
and  the  guilty  parties  who  have  perpetrated  an  irrepar- 
able wrong  not  only  against  the  field,  but  against  the 
consuming  public,  have  gone  unreprimanded. 

The  public  in  general  has  been  slow  to  realize  that 
natural  gas  exists,  like  all  other  material  things,  in  a 
perfectly  definite  though  largely  an  unknown  quantity. 
All  natural  gas  pools  contain,  could  we  but  figure  it,  a  cer- 
tain number  of  cubic  feet  of  gas,  and  no  more.  When 
this  amount  of  gas  is  used  up  or  otherwise  dissipated,  it 
can  never  be  replenished.  It  is  a  mistaken  conception, 
but  a  common  one,  that  natural  gas  fields  will  "come 
back,"  if  they  are  not  drawn  upon  for  a  while.  Nothing 
could  be  more  fallacious.  Natural  gas  fields,  coal  fields, 
oil  fields,  and  all  mineral  resources  to  which  we  may  turn 
our  hand  in  a  time  of  need,  exist  in  a  certain  amount, 
which  can  never  be  increased.  We  may  use  them  care- 
fully, like  the  thrifty  housewife,  and  extend  their  period 
of  productivity  over  a  relatively  long  time;  or  we  may 
squander  them  recklessly,  priceless  as  they  are,  much  like 
the  sailor  in  port.  If  we  do  the  latter,  we  will  find  to  our 
sorrow  as  a  people  that  what  we  once  thought  was  an 
unlimited  mineral  resource  birthright,  was  in  fact  a  very 
limited  resource,  quite  susceptible  of  exhaustion  by  our 
modern  methods  of  exploitation. 


CHAPTER  II 

NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES 
OF  KENTUCKY 

The  commercial  production  of  natural  gas  in  the 
State  of  Kentucky  dates  back  to  the  year  1863,  when  the 
old  Moreman  well  near  Brandenburg  in  Meade  County, 
Kentucky,  was  drilled.  It  was  utilized  in  the  manu- 
facture of  salt  from  brines  which  were  found  associated 
with  the  gas  in  this  and  other  wells  in  the  Brandenburg 
district.  For  a  number  of  years  this  Ohio  River  field  was 
the  only  one  of  much  importance  in  the  State,  but  with 
the  discovery  of  natural  gas  in  large  amounts  in  Ohio 
and  West  Virginia  in  the  middle  80 's,  increased  activity 
at  once  set  in,  which  resulted  in  the  laying  of  an  8-inch 
transmission  line  from  the  Brandenburg  field  to  Louis- 
ville. The  metropolis  of  Kentucky,  situated  30  miles  to 
the  northeast  of  this  gas  field,  thus  became  the  first  large 
consumer,  and  the  Kentucky  Rock  Gas  Company,  later 
the  Kentucky  Heating  and  Lighting  Company,  which 
supplied  the  natural  gas,  became  the  first  public  utilities 
corporation  giving  natural  gas  service. 

The  development  of  the  natural  gas  resources  of  Ken- 
tucky has  been  one  of  gradual  rather  than  rapid  increase. 
At  least  six  rather  distinctive  periods  may  be  noted  in 
the  growth  of  this  industry.  These  are  as  follows : 

(1)  (1750-1872)  Period  of  no  commercial  develop- 
ment. From  the  time  of  early  explorations  in  Kentucky 
up  to  and  including  the  drilling  in  of  the  Moreman 
property,  natural  gas  was  known,  its  inflammable  quali- 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  27 

ties  were  recognized,  but  it  lacked  commercialization. 
(2)  (1873-1892)  Period  of  early  commercialization  of 
natural  gas.  Meade  and  Breckinridge*  County  gas  fields 
chief  source  of  supply.  (3)  (1893-1905)  Period  of  wide- 
spread exploration.  Development  of  large  gas  production 
in  Martin  County.  Discovery  of  the  Menifee  County 
field.  Initial  declines  of  Meade  and  Breckinridge  Coun- 


GAS  PIPE  LINE  CONSTRUCTION  IN  TIMBER 

Before  gas  mains  can  be  laid  in  the  mountain  region  of  Eastern  Ken- 
tucky, timber-cutting  crews  must  follow  the  line  surveyed  and  clear  away 
all  trees  and  underbrush. 

ties.  (4)  (1906-1912)  Period  of  eastern  Kentucky 
natural  gas  exploitation.  Drilling  up  of  the  Martin 
County  field.  Development  of  the  Menifee  County  field ; 
gradual  depletion  of  Meade  and  Breckinridge  County 
fields  to  very  small  figure.  (5)  (1913-1917)  Period  of 


28  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


importation  from  West  Virginia  and  Ohio.  Martin 
County  becomes  the  chief  developed  source  of  Kentucky 
natural  gas.  Meade  and  Menifee  Counties  practically 
abandoned.  (6)  (1918-1921)  Period  of  intensive  develop- 
ment throughout  Kentucky.  Martin  County  still  a  small 
gas  producer.  Johnson,  Breathitt,  Floyd,  and  other 
counties  become  large  producers  of  natural  gas  in 
Kentucky. 


,    -  A  STANDARD  DRILLING  RIG 

This  gas  well  is  located  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  Tug  Fork  of  the 
Big  Sandy  River  in  Martin  County  near  Hermit,  W.  Va.  Standard  der- 
ricks are  used  in  drilling  for  the  deeper  gas  "sands." 

Up  to  and  including  the  year  1890,  Meade  County  was 
the  only  natural  gas  producing  field  of  much  importance 
in  the  State,  and  continued  so  until  the  opening  of  the 
Martin  County  field  in  1893.  The  gas  production  from 
Martin  County  was  not  utilized,  however,  to  any  extent 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  29 

until  the  laying  of  the  United  Fuel  Gas  Company's  main 
transmission  line  up  the  Big  Sandy  Valley  in  1905. 
Martin  County  increased  its  production  rapidly  until 
1915,  and  from  that  date  has  decreased  quite  as  steadily. 


A  TAYLOR  COUNTY  GASSER 

The   Green-Taylor   County  gas  field  northwest   of  Campbellsville  is  a 
large  field  of  low  rock  pressure.     The  gas  "sand"  is  a  limestone. 

The  Menifee  County  field  was  drilled  up  on  an  extensive 
scale  in  1904,  and  was  of  considerable  importance  until 
about  1913,  when  depletion  set  in  very  rapidly.  With 


30  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

the  depletion  in  the  Meade,  Martin  and  Menifee  County 
fields  a  certainty,  public  utilities  corporations  in  Ken- 
tucky were  forced  to  make  increasingly  large  importa- 
tions of  natural  gas  from  West  Virginia  and  Ohio. 

It  became  apparent  in  1917  and  1918  that  the  supply- 
ing limit  of  the  Columbia  Gas  and  Electric  Company  of 
West  Virginia  through  the  Kermit  Station  had  been 
reached.  Following  leads  established  by  a  large  number 
of  indexing  gas  wells  in  Eastern  Kentucky,  an  intensive 
drilling  campaign  was  instituted  in  Johnson,  Magoffin, 
Floyd,  Breathitt  and  Knott  Counties  which  has  resulted 
in  the  development  during  the  last  four  years  of  several 
gas  fields  of  recognized  importance  in  Eastern  Kentucky. 
The  chief  of  these  from  a  standpoint  of  present  com- 
mercial value  is  the  Beaver  Creek  field  in  Floyd  County. 
Close  seconds  are  the  Ivyton,  Win,  Red  Bush,  Flat  Gap, 
and  Frozen  Creek  gas  fields  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
State.  During  this  same  period,  widespread  drilling  by 
petroleum  ' '  wildcatters ' '  has  resulted  in  the  discovery  of 
a  large  number  of  more  or  less  isolated  gas  wells  and  gas 
fields  in  various  portions  of  the  State.  One  of  the  largest 
and  most  important  of  the  several  natural  gas  fields  thus 
found  is  that  which  has  been  outlined  in  Green  and  Tay- 
lor Counties  in  central  Kentucky. 

In  the  year  1921  commercial  production  of  natural 
gas  in  Kentucky  amounted  to  approximately  4,742,000  M 
cubic  feet,  valued  to  the  consumer  at  $1,360,340.00.  The 
consumption  of  natural  gas  in  the  State  in  the  year  1918, 
the  latest  f or  •  which  figures  are  available,  amounted  to 
12,200,190  M  cubic  feet,  valued  to  the  consumer  at 
$3,093,393.00,  and  was  about  300  per  cent  greater  than 
the  production.  The  total  volume  of  natural  gas  con- 
sumed in  Kentucky  in  1921  was  without  doubt  much 
greater  than  this  amount.  With  an  annual  consumption 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY 


31 


in  Kentucky  of  such  large  amounts  of  natural  gas,  and  a 
rapidly  growing  list  of  domestic  consumers,  which  in 
1918  totaled  90,849,  an  understanding  of  the  natural 
gas  reserves  of  this  State  becomes  one  of  very  great 
importance.  A  detailed  consideration  of  the  thirty-one 
separate  gas  fields  of  Kentucky,  (1)  developed  and 
depleted;  (2)  partially  developed  and  producing;  and 
(3)  indexed  by  discovery  wells,  but  not  commercialized, 
is  given  herewith : 

KENTUCKY  NATURAL  GAS  POOLS. 


I. 


1.  Cloverport,  Breckinridge  Co 

2.  Diamond  Springs,  Logan  Co. 

3.  Martin  Co 

4.  Meade  Co 

5.  Menifee  Co 

6.  Monticello,  Wayne   Co 


1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

S. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 


II. 

Barbourville,  Knox  Co 

Beaver  Creek,  Floyd  Co 

Central  City,  Muhlenberg  Co 

Elk  Fork,  Morgan  Co 

Flat  Gap,  Johnson  Co 

Frozen  Creek,  Breathitt  Co 

Glasgow,  Barren  Co 

Green  River,  Green  and  Taylor  Cos.-_ 

Ivyton,  Magoffin  Co 

Leitchfield,  Grayson  Co 

Prestonsburg,  Floyd  Co 

Redbush,  Johnson  Co ' 

Williamsburg,  Whitley  Co 

Winn,  Johnson  Co 


Gas  pools  of  yester- 
day, old  or  aban- 
doned. 


Gas  pools  of  to-day, 

production  used  in 

Kentucky  towns 
and  cities. 


III. 


Hiseville,  Barren  Co 

Island  Creek,  Owsley  Co 

Meredith,  Grayson  Co 

Mize,  Morgan  Co 

Newcombe  Creek,  Elliott  Co 

Oneida,  Clay  Co 

Penrod,  Muhlenberg  Co 

Sparta,  Gallatin  Co 


Gas  pools  of  to- 
morrow — probably 
of  commercial  im- 
portance, but  size 
undetermined.  Un- 
Rock  Fork,  Knott  Co [  connected  by  pipe 


Sexton  Creek,  Clay  Co. 
Temple  Hill,  Barren  Co. 


lines. 


32 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  33 

FROZEN  CREEK  GAS  FIELD — (1) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  north-central 
Breathitt,  near  the  Wolfe  County  line.  The  nearest  town 
is  Taulbee.  The  wells  are  drilled  along  Negro,  Sulphur, 
and  Clear  Creeks,  all  branches  of  Frozen  Creek. 

GEOLOGY — The  natural  gas  found  here  occurs  in  the 
upper  part  of  a  small  dome,  the  axis  of  which  runs  about 
20  degrees  north  of  east,  and  with  its  approximate  crest 
about  one  mile  up  Negro  Fork  of  Frozen  Creek.  Produc- 
tion is  secured  in  the  Corniferous  (Devonian)  limestone 
at  about  1,800  feet.  Structural  maps  of  Breathitt  County 
showing  this  dome  have  been  published  by  the  Kentucky 
Geological  Survey. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  was  drilled  in  the  field  by  the 
Big  Six  Oil  Company  in  September,  1918.  Its  open  flow 
was  3,500,000  cubic  feet,  and  its  rock  pressure  525  pounds. 
A  second  well  was  drilled  in  November.  During  the 
following  year  two  more  wells  were  drilled,  and  efforts 
made  to  market  the  gas.  In  June,  1920,  a  contract  was 
made  with  the  Central  Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Company, 
and  preparations  to  connect  with  the  main  line  of  this 
company  were  begun. 

By  the  winter  of  192Q-1921  a  10-inch  line  was  com- 
pleted, and  deliveries  of  gas  started.  By  that  time  ten 
wells  had  been  drilled,  of  which  five  were  dry  holes.  The 
total  open  flow  developed  was  18,000,000  cubic  feet,  and 
the  average  rock  pressure  about  525  pounds.  The 
largest  well  came  in  at  7,875,000  cubic  feet,  and  the 
smallest  at  300,000  cubic  feet.  The  eastern  and  southern 
edges  of  the  producing  area  have  been  defined.  No  data 
on  deliveries  to  date  is  available. 


34 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  35 

BEAVER  CREEK  GAS  FIELD — (2) 

GEOGRAPHY — The  Beaver  Creek  Gas  Field  is  located 
in  Floyd  County.  Beaver  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Big 
Sandy  River,  flows  through  it  and  gives  it  its  name. 
Maytown,  on  a  branch  line  of  the  C.  &  0.  B.  R.,  is  located 
in  the  heart  of  the  pool.  The  wells  are  drilled  along 
Right  Fork  of  Beaver  Creek  from  Maytown  south  to  the 
mouth  of  Goose  Creek,  and  along  Henry's  Branch  and 
Wilson,  Turkey,  and  Goose  Creeks  and  their  tributaries. 

GEOLOGY — The  principal  structural  feature  of  this 
region  is  a  rather  pronounced  anticline.  Gas  has  accumu- 
lated on  the  small  terraces  and  domes  forming  a  part  of 
this  structure. 

Production  has  been  secured  from  the  Salt  (Pennsyl- 
vanian),  Maxon,  Bradley,  and  Berea  (Mississippian), 
and  Corniferous  (Devonian)  "Sands,"  which  occur  at 
about  600,  900,  1,100,  2,000,  and  2,500  feet  respectively. 
The  greater  part  of  the  gas  is  secured  from  the  Maxon 
in  the  northern  and  central  parts  of  the  field,  and  from 
the  Bradley  in  the  southern. 

All  of  the  gas  producing  horizons  are  lenticular. 
Wells  drilled  1,500  feet  apart  show  wide  differences  in 
thickness,  and  porosity  of  the  sands.  In  fact,  one  2,000- 
foot  well  drilled  only  800  feet  from  a  good  well  in  the 
Berea  sand,  showed  not  a  trace  of  Berea.  Drilling  results 
are  very  erratic,  and  costs  are  correspondingly  high. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  in  the  Beaver  Creek  region 
was  drilled  at  the  mouth  of  Salt  Lick  Creek  in  1891.  It 
produced  oil.  The  first  gas  well  drilled  in  this  field  began 
in  1895,  and  a  half  dozen  wells  were  put  down  in  scattered 
locations  in  the  next  decade.  In  1918  several  companies 
were  formed  to  develop  the  field,  and  drilling  began;  in 
earnest.  By  the  end  of  that  year  a  total  open  flow,  old 
and  new,  of  about  20,000,000  cubic  feet  had  been 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


developed.  During  1919  other  wells  were  drilled,  and 
during  1920  and  1921  an  active  drilling  campaign  has 
been  waged. 

Most  of  the  wells  are  in  the  Maxon  Sand.  The  largest 
well  in  this  sand  of  which  authentic  data  is  available  had 
an  original  open  flow  of  3,600,000  cubic  feet.  The 
original  rock  pressure  of  this  sand  was  about  250  pounds. 
Good  producers  are  still  being  drilled  into  this  sand,  but 
their  decline  is  very  rapid,  and  salt  water  has  appeared 
in  several  parts  of  the  field. 

A  few  wells  in  widely  separated  parts  of  the  field 
secured  production  in  the  Berea.  The  size  of  the  wells 
in  this  sand  range  from  250,000  to  3,000,000  cubic  feet, 
and  their  original  rock  pressure  was  535  pounds. 

Recently  several  large  wells  have  been  secured  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  field  in  the  Bradley  Sand,  one  hav- 
ing an  open  flow  of  12,000,000  cubic  feet,  and  others 
having  more  than  5,000,000  cubic  feet.  This  area,  how- 
ever, is  comparatively  small,  being  already  practically 
outlined  by  dry  holes. 

Production  from  the  Salt  sand  is  not  regarded  as 
of  commercial  importance  because  of  the  rapid  encroach- 
ment of  saltwater. 

Due  to  the  fact  that  the  natural  gas  development  of 
this  field  has  been  and  still  is  in  the  hands  of  several 
different  companies  which  has  allowed  only  a  portion  of 
the  available  open  flow  to  be  drawn  on,  reliable  estimates 
of  the  gas  reserves  of  this  field  have  been  difficult  to  make. 
The  results  obtained  from  some  of  the  wells  as  given 
hereafter  show  the  field  to  be  spotted,  though  capable  of 
affording  a  large  supply  of  natural  gas  from  many  wells 
of  medium  size  and  a  few  wells  of  rather  large  capacity. 

In  1918  a  carbon  black  plant  was  erected  near  May- 
town,  and  began  using  gas  in  June.  Wells  having  an 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  37 

open  flow  of  7,000,000  cubic  feet  were  connected,  and 
delivered  1,500,000  to  2,500,000  cubic  feet  per  day,  but 
declined  in  delivery  so  rapidly  that  one  and  two  rigs  had 
to  be  kept  drilling  continuously.  By  August,  1920,  wells 
having  an  original  open  flow  of  10,000,000  cubic  feet  had 
been  connected,  but  could  only  deliver  1,250,000  to 
1,750,000  cubic  feet  per  day,  while  the  rock  pressure  of 
most  of  the  wells  in  the  Maxon  had  declined  from  250  to 
150  pounds,  a  fall  of  40  per  cent  in  rock  pressure,  and 
60  per  cent  in  proportionate  deliveries.  By  the  spring 
of  1921  these  wells  were  furnishing  less  than  1,000,000 
cubic  feet  per  day,  with  1  pound  at  the  carbon  plant. 

In  1920  a  compressor  station  was  erected  at  Maytown 
by  the  Pennagrade  Oil  &  Gas  Co.,  and  a  line  built  con- 
necting the  field  with  the  main  line  of  the  Kentucky  Pipe 
Line  Company  at  Sitka.  Four  wells  in  the  Maxon  with 
an  open  flow  of  7,500,000  cubic  feet  and  an  average  rock 
pressure  of  240  pounds,  and  one  well  in  the  Bradley  with 
an  open  flow  of  2,375,000  cubic  feet  and  a  rock  pressure 
of  372  pounds  were  connected  in  December,  and  deliveries 
began.  Maximum  daily  deliveries  were  1,750,000  cubic 
feet  per  day  for  a  few  weeks.  By  April,  1921,  deliveries 
had  decreased  to  875,000  cubic  feet  or  50  per  cent  of  the 
original.  The  open  flow  of  the  Maxon  wells  had  decreased 
62  per  cent  to  2,890,000  cubic  feet  and  their  rock  pressure 
46  per  cent  to  130  pounds.  The  Bradley  Sand  well  had 
fallen  off  89  per  cent  to  260,000  cubic  feet,  and  its  rock 
pressure  76  per  cent  to  90  pounds.  In  May,  1921,  this 
well  was  flooded  out  by  salt  water,  and  after  being 
properly  plugged  was  abandoned. 

A  second  carbon  plant  was  erected  in  1920  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  field,  and  placed  in  operation  in 
November.  The  plant  has  a  capacity  of  3,000,000  cubic 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  39 


feet  of  gas  daily.  This  plant  has  connected  to  it  most  of 
the  wells  in  its  portion  of  the  field,  and  though  not  at  the 
present  running  to  full  capacity,  could  rapidly  exhaust 
what  appears  to  be  a  most  promising  part  of  the  field. 

MARTIN  COUNTY  GAS  FIELD — (3) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  east-central  Mar- 
tin County  on  the  Tug  Fork  of  the  Big  Sandy  River. 
Geologically  it  stretches  over  into  West  Virginia.  War- 
field,  Ky.,  and  Kermit,  W.  Va.,  are  approximately  in  the 
center  of  the  gas-bearing  area.  The  latter  town  is  on  the 
N.  &  W.  R.  R. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  here  is  anticlinal  and  the 
gas  is  found  on  a  dome  about  eight  miles  long  and  four 
miles  wide.  Commercial  production  is  secured  from  the 
Salt  (Pennsylvanian),  Maxon,  and  Big  Lime  (Mississip- 
pian)  "Sands."  A  few  Big  Injun  and  Berea  (Mississip- 
pian)  wells  also  produced  marketable  amounts  of  gas. 
The  Corniferous  (Devonian)  here  is  gas  bearing,  but 
there  is  so  much  hydrogen  sulphide  in  the  gas  from  this 
strata  that  it  is  not  used.  Drilling  depths  are  from  750 
to  1,500  feet.  The  surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsyl- 
vanian) sandstones,  shales,  and  coals. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  was  drilled  in  1881.  It  was 
allowed  to  waste  into  the  atmosphere  for  ten  years,  after 
which  it  was  used  by  a  carbon  black  plant  until  1901,. 
when  a  pipe  line  was  built  from  the  field  supplying 
Ashland,  Catlettsburg,  Ironton,  and  Huntington.  Wells 
then  making  gas  were  connected  up,  and  an  active  drilling 
campaign  began. 

By  1907,  33  wells  had  'been  drilled,  and  an  open  flow 
of  48,250,000  cubic  feet  had  been  developed.  The  size  of 
the  wells  ranged  from  500,000  to  2,500,000,  and  the 
original  rock  pressures  were  280,  470  and  565  pounds 


40  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

respectively  for  the  Salt  (Pennsylvanian),  Maxon  and 
Big  Lime  (Mississippian)  "Sands." 

Active  drilling  continued.  In  1912  a  pipe  line  was 
laid  to  supply  several  towns  in  Central  Kentucky,  in- 
cluding those  formerly  supplied  by  the  Menifee  County 
field.  The  following  year  a  line  was  laid  to  Louisville, 
and  a  2,200  H.  P.  compressor  station  was  built  at  Kermit. 
Deliveries  to  Louisville  began  in  February,  1914.  The 
year  1914  marked  the  peak  of  the  production  from  the 
Martin  County  field.  By  this  time  92  wells  had  been 
drilled,  and  the  open  flow  reached  90,000,000  cubic  feet. 
Maximum  deliveries  were  18,000,000  cubic  feet  per  day. 

From  this  time  to  the  present  deliveries  have  de- 
creased rapidly.  The  gas  producing  area  was  completely 
defined,  and  of  46  wells  drilled  in  the  next  four  years  by 
one  company,  21  were  dry.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
wells  in  the  upper  sands  were  drilled  to  the  lower  produc- 
ing horizons,  the  average  rock  pressure  fell  steadily.  By 
1917  it  was  necessary  to  rebuild  two  of  the  compressors 
at  Kermit,  so  that  they  could  take  the  gas  at  a  lower 
suction. 

In  1918  several  wells  became  completely  exhausted 
and  had  to  be  abandoned.  Although  there  were  then 
connected  124  wells  which  had  shown  original  open  flow 
totaling  153,000,000  cubic  feet,  the  combined  open  flow 
at  that  time  was  only  40,000,000  cubic  feet,  and  the 
average  rock  pressure  had  declined  to  150  pounds. 

Since  depletion  set  in,  pipe  lines  have  been  laid  to 
other  fields  in  West  Virginia  to  supply  the  Kermit 
Station.  The  flow  and  rock  pressure  of  the  Martin 
County  field  has,  however,  continued  to  decline.  The  field 
is  now  regarded  as  practically  exhausted,  and  is  only 
supplying  about  2,000,000  and  3,000,000  cubic  feet 
per  day. 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  41 

RED  BUSH  GAS  FIELD — (4)  AND 
FLAT  GAP  GAS  FIELD— (5) 

GEOGRAPHY — These  fields  are  twins  located  in  the 
northwestern  corner  of  Johnson  County  and  extending 
over  into  Lawrence  County.  Flat  Gap  Post  Office  is  on  the 
southeastern  edge  of  the  field  and  Red  Bush  Post  Office 
on  the  southwestern  flank.  The  field  is  crossed  by  Laurel 
Creek.  The  main  lines  of  the  Kentucky  Pipe  Line  Co. 
and  the  Central  Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Co.  run  about 
six  miles  south  of  the  center  of  the  producing  area. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  is  a  broad  dome.  Drilling 
results  have  been  such  as  to  indicate  that  the  contours  on 
the  gas  sand  are  not  conformable  with  those  on  the  out- 
cropping strata,  and  that  the  gas  area  may  be  smaller 
than  was  formerly  figured.  Production  is  secured  from 
the  Weir  and  the  Berea  (Mississippian)  but  principally 
from  the  latter  ' 'sand. ' '  The  Weir  occurs  at  575  feet  and 
the  Berea  at  about  700  feet  below  the  surface.  The  sur- 
face rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian)  sandstones, 
shales,  and  coals. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  was  put  down  in  this  field  in 
the  fall  of  1917.  It  had  an  open  flow  of  500,000  cubic 
feet,  and  a  rock  pressure  of  230  pounds.  By  the  summer 
of  1918  four  gas  wells  had  been  drilled  and  a  total  open 
flow  of  2,250,000  cubic  feet  developed.  The  largest  well 
made  900,000  cubic  feet,  and  the  smallest  300,000  cubic 
feet,  and  the  rock  pressure  averaged  235  pounds. 

In  July,  1918,  a  contract  was  made  for  the  sale  of  this 
gas,  and  a  line  was  laid  connecting  the  field  with  the 
main  line  of  the  Central  Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Co. 
Deliveries  were  begun  in  December,  1918.  This  field  is 
still  putting  gas  into  the  main  lines.  The  acreage  is  in 


42 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


(o/6X 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  43 

the  hands  of  several  different  companies  who  have  been 
unable  to  unite  their  interests.  Development  of  the  gas 
has  been  slow.  Maximum  deliveries  have  never  been 
more  than  1,250,000  cubic  feet  per  day.  Minimum 
deliveries  much  less. 

ELK  FORK  GAS  FIELD— (6) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  central  Morgan 
County,  and  extends  westward  about  two  miles  from  the 
Licking  River  at  West  Liberty  to  Caney  Creek. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  here  is  anticlinal  with  the 
gas  apparently  gathered  about  the  crest  of  a  small  dome. 
The  gas  production  comes  from  the  Clinton  (Silurian) 
"sand"  which  is  reached  at  1,500  feet.  The  surface  rocks 
are  Potts ville  (Pennsylvanian),  sandstones,  shales,  and 
coals. 

HISTORY — The  wells  of  this  field  were  originally 
drilled  in  search  for  oil,  and  the  gas  production  so  far 
developed  has  been  incidental  to  oil  operations.  To  date 
about  15  wells  have  been  drilled,  five  of  which  made  gas 
in  excess  of  100,000  cubic  feet  per  day.  Two  of  these 
made  5'  :pOO  cubic  feet  each.  The  rock  pressure  averages 
425  pounds. 

These  wells  were  connected  to  West  Liberty  five  years 
ago.  Although  the  population  of  this  town  is  only  500, 
the  company  owning  the  wells  has  difficulty  in  maintain- 
ing the  supply  during  the  winter.  While  the  field  has 
not  yet  been  completely  drilled,  it  is  evident  that  it  will 
never  be  a  producer  of  large  commercial  importance. 

WIN  GAS  FIELD— (7) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  on  Mine  Fork  of 
Paint  Creek  on  the  Magoffin  and  Johnson  County  lines, 


44  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

about  four  and  one-half  miles  from  the  main  pipe  lines  of 
the  Kentucky  Pipe  Line,  and  the  Central  Kentucky 
Natural  Gas  Companies. 

GEOLOGY — Production  is  secured  on  the  top  of  the 
Mine  Fork  (Paint  Creek)  dome  just  south  of  the  Paint 
Creek  Fault.  The  producing  area  covers  about  three 
square  miles.  The  gas  sand  is  the  Weir  (Mississippian), 
900  to  1,100  feet  below  the  surface.  The  surface  rocks  are 
Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian)  sandstones,  shales,  and  coals. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  was  put  down  in  this  field  in 
June,  1918,  by  the  Bed  Rock  Oil  Company.  In  the  fall 
of  that  year  a  250  H.  P.  compressor  station  was  installed 
and  the  field  connected  with  the  Central  Kentucky 
Natural  Gas  Company's  pipe  line.  In  the  fall  of  1919 
a  450  H.  P.  compressor  station  was  built  by  the  Louisville 
Gas  &  Electric  Co.  and  a  second  line  built  connecting  the 
field  with  the  pipe  line  to  Louisville. 

A  total  of  35  wells,  of  which  30  were  producers,  had 
been  drilled  in  this  field  up  to  the  end  of  1920.  The 
largest  well  had  an  open  flow  of  2,000,000  cubic  feet  and 
the  smallest  425,000  cubic  feet,  and  the  original  rock 
pressure  of  the  wells  ran  from  285  to  290  pounds.  The 
open  flow  of  the  first  twenty  wells  drilled  averaged 
850,000  cubic  feet.  The  producing  area  appears  to  be 
defined,  but  there  are  about  12  to  fifteen  locations  remain- 
ing, some  of  which  will  be  drilled  by  the  end  of  1921. 

The  total  open  flow  of  the  Win  Gas  Field  reached 
18,000,000  cubic  feet  in  January,  1920,  at  which  time  the 
maximum  deliveries  were  5,000,000  cubic  feet  per  day. 
This  was  from  20  wells.  Within  three  months,  deliveries 
showed  an  appreciable  decline  and,  although  additional 
wells  have  been  drilled  and  connected  up,  the  total 
dropped  steadily,  until  the  field  now  averages  1,500,000 
cubic  feet  per  day.  The  present  open  flow  is  approxi- 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  45 

mately  6,500,000  cubic  feet,  and  the  rock  pressure  135 
pounds.  A  total  of  about  2,000,000,000  cubic  feet  has 
been  taken  from  the  field  to  date. 

MIZE  GAS  FIELD — (8) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  small  field  is  located  near  Mize  Post 
Office  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Morgan  County,  Ky. ' 

GEOLOGY — The  gas  appears  here  to  be  on  a  small 
dome,  only  a  few  acres  in  extent.  The  Corniferous 
(Devonian)  is  the  gas  "sand"  and  is  found  from  1,250 
to  1,300  feet  below  the  surface.  The  rocks  exposed  at  the 
surface  are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian)  sandstones,  shales, 
and  coals. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  in  this  field  was  put  down  in 
1917  as  a  test  for  oil.  It  came  in  at  800,000  cubic  feet, 
and  had  a  rock  pressure  of  272  pounds  per  square  inch. 
By  June,  1918,  three  producers  and  two  dry  holes  had 
been  drilled.  The  total  open  now  developed  was  2,800,000 
cubic  feet,  and  the  average  rock  pressure  270  pounds. 
The  largest  well  showed  1,500,000  cubic  feet,  and  the 
smallest  400,000  cubic  feet. 

Shortly  after  its  completion  the  first  well  was  con- 
nected to  the  drilling  on  the  lease,  and  although  only  a 
few  thousand  feet  of  gas  was  used  a  month,  it  was 
drowned  out  by  salt  water  in  two  years.  Results  obtained 
in  drilling  this  field  show  it  to  be  so  small  in  extent  as  to 
be  of  only  local  value. 

IVYTON  GAS  FIELD — (9) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  central-eastern 
Magoffin  County,  with  its  eastern  edge  almost  against  the 
county  line.  Ivyton,  on  the  B.  S.  &  K.  R.  R.,  is  on  the 
edge  of  the  field.  The  wells  are  drilled  along  Burning 
Fork  and  its  tributaries. 


46  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

GEOLOGY — The  principal  structure  here  is  anticlinal, 
the  gas  area  being  located  on  a  dome,  the  major  axis  of 
which  runs  about  30  degrees  east  of  north,  and  the  south- 
western end  of  which  flattens  slightly.  Production  is 
secured  in  the  Weir  sand  (Mississippian).  The  pay 
streak  averages  about  15-25  feet  in  thickness,  and  drilling 
depths  are  1,000  to  1,250  feet.  One  well  in  the  field  has 
been  drilled  3,500  feet  to  the  Upper  Ordovician,  but 
found  no  pay  sands  below  the  Mississippian  series.  The 
surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian)  sandstones, 
shales,  and  coals. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  was  drilled  in  this  field  in 
1919  by  the  Bed  Rock  Oil  Co.,  in  prospecting  for  oil. 
During  1920  five  more  gas  wells  were  drilled,  and  at  the 
end  of  this  year  an  open  flow  of  11,000,000  cubic  feet  had 
been  developed.  In  the  early  part  of  1921  a  6-inch  pipe 
line  was  laid  from  the  field  to  Win,  connecting  with  the 
line  of  the  Kentucky  Pipe  Line  Co.,  and  in  March 
deliveries  were  begun  to  Louisville. 

By  September,  1921,  about  25  gas  wells  had  been 
drilled,  and  a  total  open  flow  of  25,000,000  cubic  feet 
developed.  The  largest  well  showed  2,750,000  cubic  feet, 
and  the  smallest  175,000  cubic  feet.  The  rock  pressure 
averaged  385  pounds.  The  southern,  eastern  and  western 
edges  of  the  field  have  been  defined  by  the  drilling  of 
several  dry  holes.  The  total  productive  area  appears  to 
be  about  2,500  acres.  To  October  1,  1921,  less  than 
200,000,000  cubic  feet  have  been  taken  from  the  field. 
For  this  reason,  no  reliable  estimate  of  its  probable  life 
can  be  made,  though  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  commercially 
important  and  very  valuable  natural  gas  field. 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  47 


MENIFEE  COUNTY  GAS  FIELD — (10) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  near  Rothwell,  in 
Menifee  County,  at  the  end  of  a  branch  line  of  the  C.  &  0. 
R.  R.  The  field  is  8%  miles  long  and  41/0  miles  wide,  and 
the  total  producing  area  covers  24  square  miles. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  here  is  monoclinal.  The  slope 
rises  from  the  southeast  to  the  northwest  at  an  almost 
uniform  rate  of  fifty  feet  to  the  mile,  with  only  two 
slight  synclinal  basins  to  mar  its  symmetry.  Production 
is  secured  from  a  porous  streak  25  feet  thick  in  the 
Corniferous  (Devonian)  limestone.  Wells  are  from  400 
to  800  feet  deep,  averaging  500  feet.  At  the  northwest 
end  of  the  field  the  porous  streak  pinches  out  entirely. 
The  southeastern  and  southern  edges  are  saturated  with 
salt  water.  The  surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsyl- 
vanian),  and  Chester  (Mississippian)  sandstones,  shales 
and  limestones. 

HISTORY — Gas  was  discovered  in  this  field  in  March, 
1904,  the  first  well  showing  500,000  feet  at  452  to  478  feet. 
The  rock  pressure  was  79  pounds.  The  following  year  a 
company  was  formed  to  develop  the  field,  and  in 
February,  1906,  a  line  was  laid  to  Mt.  Sterling,  Win- 
chester, and  Lexington,  and  a  compressor  station  was- 
built. 

By  the  middle  of  1911,  1.15  wells  had  been  drilled,  of 
which  90  were  gassers,  and  25  dry  holes.  The  largest 
well  made  1,250,000  cubic  feet,  and  the  smallest 
250,000  cubic  feet.  The  average  original  rock  pressure 
was  75  pounds.  Maximum  deliveries  never  exceeded 
4,500,000  cubic  feet.  Early  in  1912  the  producing  area 
was  completely  defined  and  drilled  up,  and  with  no  new 
wells  to  be  added,  the  deliveries  began  to  drop  rapidly. 


48 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


B§%s§^^a^* 


"1. 

HP 

3s 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  49 

By  June,  1912,  the  open  flow  had  fallen  to  25,000,000 
cubic  feet,  and  the  rock  pressure  to  60  pounds.  Three 
wells  had  been  drowned  out  by  salt  water,  and  the  de- 
liveries were  no  longer  sufficient  to  supply  the  towns 
connected. 

To  meet  this  situation  the  West  Virginia  fields  were 
connected,  and  since  1912  gas  has  only  been  taken  from 
the  Menifee  field  as  an  emergency  relief  in  very  cold 
weather.  In  1920  the  rock  pressure  was  25  pounds. 
Deliveries  from  the  field  practically  ceased  in  1918.  In 
the  summer  of  1920  a  trial  was  made  of  using  the  field 
as  a  storage  field,  but  the  results  of  the  experiment  are 
not  known. 

ONEIDA  GAS  FIELD — (11) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  northeastern  Clay 
County  near  Oneida.  The  wells  are  drilled  along  Red 
Bird  and  Bullskin  Creeks. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  here  is  anticlinal,  but  not 
enough  data  has  been  gathered  as  yet  to  make  it  possible 
to  determine  the  exact  structural  characteristics  of  the 
field.  A  comparison  of  surface  structure  and  results  of 
drilling  to  date  suggests  a  lack  of  accordance  between  the 
gas  "sand"  figure  and  that  seen  in  the  coals  above.  The 
gas  "sand"  is  the  Corniferous  (Devonian),  and  is  found 
at  about  1,600  feet  below  the  surface.  The  surface  rocks 
are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian)  sandstones,  shales,  and 
coals. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  was  drilled  in  this  field  in 
the  spring  of  1920  as  a  test  for  oil.  It  made  2,250,000 
cubic  feet  ,of  gas,  and  three  other  wells  were  then  put 
down.  By  the  end  of  1920  these  had  been  completed,  and 
the  total  open  flow  was  11,000,000  cubic  feet.  The  largest 


50  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

well  had  an  open  flow  of  4,000,000  cubic  feet,  and  the 
smallest  1,500,000.  The  original  rock  pressure  of  all  the 
wells  was  350  pounds.  As  no  market  for  the  gas  was 
available,  drilling  operations  were  stopped. 

In  May,  1921,  Well  No.  1  had  an  open  flow  volume  of 
1,350,000  cubic  feet,  and  a  rock  pressure  of  310  pounds; 
No.  3  had  an  open  flow  of  780,000  cubic  feet,  and  a  rock 
pressure  of  270  pounds.  Well  No.  4  had  a  volume  of 
475,000  cubic  feet,  and  a  rock  pressure  of  300  pounds. 
Well  No.  2,  originally  quite  as  good  as  No.  1,  caved  in, 
due  to  inadequate  casing,  and  was  ruined.  A  number  of 
wells  have  been  drilled  in  the  neighboring  vicinity,  all 
of  which  were  unproductive.  The  field  is  evidently  not  a 
large  one,  though  certainly  one  of  value. 

WlLLIAMSBURG   GAS  FlELD — (12) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  at  Williamsburg, 
Ky.,  in  the  center  of  Whitley  County,  a  town  of  2,000 
inhabitants.  It  is  reached  by  the  main  line  of  the  L.  &  N. 
R.  R.  The  Cumberland  River  bisects  the  town. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  here  is  a  doming  anticline, 
located  nearly  in  the  basin  of  the  Eastern  Kentucky  Geo- 
Syncline.  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian),  Maxon,  Big  Lime, 
and  Big  Injun  (Mississippian)  "sands"  are  productive 
of  natural  gas.  The  surface  rocks  are  Pottsville 
(Pennsylvanian)  sandstones,  shales,  and  coals. 

HISTORY — The  first  wells  drilled  in  this  section  were 
drilled  in  1902,  and  produced  oil  and  gas  from  the 
shallow  sand,  the  producing  depths  being  from  300  to 
500  and  from  700  to  800  feet.  These  sands,  it  would 
seem,  correspond  to  the  upper  sands  in  the  Knox  County 
fields,  viz:  Wages,  Jones,  and  Epperson. 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  51 

In  a  recent  drilling  campaign,  the  Iroquois  Oil  &  Gas 
Company  tried  to  make  some  of  these  shallow  wells  into 
producers.  Finding  that  this  was  not  possible,  they 
decided  to  drill  the  Adkins  well  deeper.  It  was  finished 
at  a  depth  of  1,381  feet  and  produced  gas  from  two 
separate  horizons.  The  top  of  the  first  sand  was 
encountered  at  1,155  feet  and  produced  gas  in  this  same 
streak  to  the  depth  of  1,180.  The  next  gas  was  found  at 
1,365  to  1,370  feet.  This  well  was  gauged  and  found  to 
be  making  2,700,000  cubic  feet,  and  had  a  rock  pressure 
of  220  pounds. 

The  pay  "sands"  correspond  somewhat  to  the 
"sands"  of  Floyd  County.  The  Big  Lime  is  not 
encountered  until  after  the  bit  has  passed  through  these 
upper  gas  pays.  The  Big  Lime  is  found  to  be  from  350 
to  380  feet  thick  in  this  section.  Gas  production  in  one 
well  at  a  depth  of  1,515  feet  is  possibly  from  Big  Injun 
sand. 

PRODUCTION. 

Rock 


1  Adkins  No.  l._  2,700,000  220  Ibs. 

2  J.  Rose  No.  1__  2,  800,  000  220  Ibs. 

3  E.  G.  Moss  No.  1 1,900,000  180  Ibs. 

4  E.  G.  Moss  No.  2 400,000 

5  Electric  Light  Plant 2,900,000  180  Ibs. 

6  C.  W.  Rains 500,000 


This  gas  at  the  present  is  being  piped  to  Williamsburg 
for  domestic  purposes. 


52  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

GREEN  RIVER  GAS  FIELD — (13) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  partly  in  Green  and 
partly  in  Taylor  County.  The  producing  area  extends 
from  Greensburg  northeastward  almost  to  Campbells- 
ville, and  from  Salome  south  to  Ebenezer.  The  Green 
River  passes  through  the  field,  and  the  Campbellsville 
branch  of  the  L.  &  N.  R.  R.  crosses  it  in  a  northeasterly 
and  southwesterly  direction. 

GEOLOGY — A  long  anticlinal  ridge  comes  into  the  field 
at  the  northeast  and  runs  southwest  until  it  flattens  out 
in  the  big  Kentucky  geo-syncline  which  passes  through 
the  southern  part  of  Green  and  Taylor  Counties.  Three 
smaller  folds  cross  the  main  ridge  almost  at  right  angles. 
Most  of  the  gas  is  found  on  the  three  domes  formed  by 
the  intrusion  of  these  cross  folds.  Gas  is  also  found  in 
the  area  along  the  main  anticline  between  the  domes,  but 
in  a  smaller  quantity.  The  gas  "sands"  are  the  Cornif- 
erous  (Devonian)  and  the  Saluda  (Ordovician)  lime- 
stones, here  taken  together  about  40  feet  thick,  with  25 
feet  of  pay  sand.  Drilling  depths  are  from  400  to  600 
feet.  The  surface  rocks  are  limestones  (St.  Louis  age)  of 
the  middle  and  lower  Mississippian  system. 

HISTORY — The  first  gas  wells  in  the  field  were  drilled 
some  years  ago,  when  an  effort  was  being  made  to  extend 
the  limits  of  a  small  oil  pool  found  near  Greensburg. 
Drilling  was  desultory  until  1919,  when  the  Green  River 
Gas  Company  purchased  most  of  the  wells,  and  laid  plans 
to  market  it.  The  following  year  connections  were  made 
to  the  towns  of  Greensburg  and  Campbellsville,  three 
wells  being  used  for  this  purpose. 

To  date  about  25  wells  have  been  drilled,  and  an  open 
flow  of  about  28,000,000  cubic  feet  developed.  The  size 
of  the  wells  ranges  from  225,000  cubic  feet  to  3,500,000 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  53 

cubic  feet.  The  rock  pressure  averages  39  pounds.  Not 
enough  gas  has  been  taken  from  the  field  to  make  it 
possible  to  estimate  its  depletion  curve. 

MEADE  COUNTY  GAS  FIELD — (14) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  the  extreme  north- 
eastern corner  of  Meade  County,  along  the  L.  H.  &  St.  L. 
Railroad  from  Bartles  to  Long  Branch,  35  miles  south- 
west of  Louisville.  The  best  gas  area  at  Long  Branch  is 
along  the  bank  of  the  Ohio  River  and  at  Bartles  is  im- 
mediately adjacent  to  the  town. 

GEOLOGY — Production  comes  from  two  small  domes  on 
two  roughly  parallel  cross  folds  running  northeast  from 
the  Dry  Ridge  anticline  which  crosses  the  northern  part 
of  the  county.  The  crests  of  these  domes  are  near  Long 
Branch  and  Bartles  respectively.  The  gas  "sand"  is  a 
15-foot  lens  in  the  black  Chattanooga  shale  (Devonian), 
and  is  about  seven  feet  below  the  top  of  the  shale.  The 
black  shale  lies  at  300  to  400  feet  under  the  surface.  A 
peculiarity  of  this  field  is  that  salt  water  appeared  in  all 
the  wells,  either  at  the  time  of  drilling  or  very  shortly 
thereafter.  Some  have  been  pumped  for  35  years  to  keep 
them  from  sealing.  The  surface  rocks  are  limestone  of 
the  middle  and  lower  Mississippian  system. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  in  this  field  was  drilled  in 
1858,  and  from  that  time  to  1888  several  wells  were  put 
down,  and  were  used  in  making  salt  from  the  brine  found 
in  them.  Commercial  development  began  in  1888,  at 
which  time  a  company  was  formed  to  pipe  the  gas  to 
Louisville.  A  line  was  completed  in  1890. 

The  largest  well  in  the  Meade  County  field  came  in  at 
2,000,000  cubic  feet,  with  a  rock  pressure  of  51  pounds. 
The  highest  initial  rock  pressure  recorded  was  64  pounds 


54 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


POCK 


INDIANA 


KEINTUCKV 


MILE 

LOCATION 
OF 

MEADE      COUNTY 
G  A  5       F  I  E  LD 


FLOW 


5          $ 
5          $ 


V 

\ 

\ 

\ 
\ 

\ 
\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

N»% 

LOCATION,  AND  DECLINE   CURVES  OF  MEADE  COUNTY 
GAS  FIELD    (KENTUCKY-INDIANA) 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  55 

for  a  well  near  Bartles,  and  the  lowest  22  pounds  for  one 
in  the  same  portion  of  the  field.  The  average  rock  pres- 
sure was  50  pounds,  and  the  average  open  flow  about 
500,000  cubic  feet.  Altogether  about  100  wells  were 
drilled  by  1890.  The  producing  area  at  Long  Branch 
was  completely  outlined  by  non-productive  wells,  and 
that  at  Bartles  fairly  well  drilled  up.  In  1890  the  30  best 
wells  were  connected  to  the  pipe  line.  These  wells  when 
tested  individually  gave  a  total  open  flow  of  10,000,000 
cu'bic  feet,  and  when  all  were  flowing  into  the  line  the 
maximum  deliveries  were  less  than  2,000,000  cubic  feet. 
Natural  gas  deliveries  fell  off  rapidly,  causing  two  150 
H.  P.  compressors  to  be  installed  in  1891.  New  wells 
were  then  drilled  and  old  ones  cleaned  out  and  connected 
to  the  line,  and  deliveries  increased  until  in  1904  they 
averaged  1,000,000  cubic  feet  per  day.  This  marked  the 
peak  production.  From  this  time  on  the  rock  pressure 
declined  rapidly,  and  the  use  of  compressors  was 
finally  discontinued. 

LEITCHFIELD  GAS  FIELD* — (15) 

GEOGRAPHY — The  Leitchfield  gas  fiejd  is  located  in  the 
central  portion  of  Grayson  County  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  town  of  Leitchfield.  The  extent  of  the  field 
has  never  been  determined,  but  it  is  probably  not  a  large 
field.  The  structural  geology  of  the  section  indicates  that 
it  may  be  extended  somewhat  further  to  the  east  and  to 
the  west. 

GEOLOGY — The  gas  is  secured  in  porous  strata  of 
St.  Louis  (Mississippian)  limestone  at  a  depth  of  from 
700  to  1,200  feet.  The  structure  is  a  doming  nipple  on  a 
great  anticline,  the  major  axis  of  which  extends  nearly 

*  Geology  of  Oil  and  Gas  in  Grayson  County,  W.  R.  Jillson,  Kentucky 
Geological  Survey,  Series  VI,  Vol.  II,  p.  183,   1921. 


56 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


east  and  west.     The  surface  rocks  are  of  the  Chester 
Series  (Upper  Mississippian) . 

HISTORY — The  first  producing  gasser  in  this  field,  now 
known  as  the  "Old  Leitchfield  Well,"  was  drilled  about 
1890,  near  the  town.  It  produced  between  5,000  and 
10,000  cubic  feet,  and  was  subsequently  abandoned. 
Several  gas  and  artesian  water  wells  have  been  drilled 
near  Leitchfield.  The  best  gasser  of  these  is  the  Xerxes 
Hunter,  No.  1,  located  on  the  northwest  limits  of  the 


AN  OIL  FIELD  WASTE 

This  is  an  aid  oil  well  in  Western  Kentucky.  It  was  abandoned  and 
never  plugged.  It  has  "been  producing  (wasting)  oil  for  ten  or  fifteen 
years. 

town.  About  100,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  from  this  well  is 
being  used  daily  in  Leitchfield.  It  is  reported  to  have  had 
an  original  open  flow  of  between  3,000,000  and  4,000,000 
cubic  feet.  The  W.  S.  Proctor  is  a  commercial  gasser,  but 
its  size  is  not  known. 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  57 

HISEVILLE  GAS  FIELD — (16) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  the  northeastern 
portion  of  Barren  County  in  the  vicinity  of  Hiseville 
Post  Office.  The  extent  of  the  field  is  not  definitely  known, 
but  it  is  not  considered  to  be  a  large  gas  field.  It  is  defined 
by  several  gas  wells.  The  nearest  main  line  railroad 
station  is  Cave  City,  which  is  located  about  10  miles  west. 

GEOLOGY — The  natural  gas  is  secured  beneath  the 
black  Chattanooga  shale  (Devonian)  in  the  underlying 
limestone,  probably  of  Devonian  and  Ordovician  age. 
Individual  wells  are  reported  to  be  producing  an  initial 
maximum  of  1,000,000  cubic  feet  open  flow.  No  surficial 
indications  of  important  gas  structure  are  recognized  in 
this  field,  and  for  this  reason  the  gas  accumulation  is 
regarded  as  a  pocket  or  crevice  source.  The  rock  pressure 
is  about  75  pounds.  The  St.  Louis  (Middle  Mississippian) 
limestones  are  found  at  the  surface. 

HISTORY — The  first  well  in  this  field  was  drilled  in 
the  90's  in  prospecting  for  oil.  When  gas  was  found,  the 
territory  was  abandoned.  About  six  wells  showing  gas 
have  been  drilled  and  plugged.  The  limits  and  capacity 
of  the  field  are  not  known. 

GLASGOW  GAS  FIELD — (17) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  gas  field  is  located  in  and  surround- 
ing the  town  of  Glasgow,  Kentucky,  in  Barren  County. 
The  extent  of  this  field  is  not  definitely  known,  but  it  is 
regarded  as  a  relatively  small  field. 

GEOLOGY — The  natural  gas  of  the  Glasgow  field  is 
secured  at  depths  ranging  from  415  to  500  feet  in  an 
Ordovician  limestone  "sand,"  105  feet  beneath  the 
Devonian  shale.  No  large  structure  exists  at  Glasgow, 
and  gas  for  this  reason  is  regarded  to  be  a  pocket  deposit. 
The  surface  rocks  are  the  Warsaw  limestones  (Lower 
Mississippian).  There  are  now  fourteen  wells  drilled 


58  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

producing  gas  and  no  dry  holes.  The  largest  well  is  the 
Powell  gasser  with  an  open  flow  of  500,000  cubic  feet  and 
a  rock  pressure  of  150  pounds.  The  Sampson  gasses  has 
the  highest  rock  pressure  with  270  pounds,  but  its  open 
flow  is  only  200,000  cubic  feet.  The  total  gas  production 
of  the  Glasgow  field  now  is  3,500,000  cubic  feet  open  flow. 
HISTORY — The  Glasgow  gas  field  was  opened  during 
the  year  1921  by  "wildcatters"  prospecting  for  oil. 

DIAMOND  SPRINGS  GAS  FIELD — (18) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  northwestern 
Logan  County  on  the  L.  &  N.  Railroad  in  the  vicinity 
of  Diamond  Springs  Post  Office.  The  extent  of  the  field, 
which  is  small,  has  been  well  defined  by  a  number  of  old 
wells. 

GEOLOGY — The  natural  gas  of  this  field  is  found  in 
the  limestone  beneath  the  Devonian  black  shale,  which 
occurs  on  a  sharp  monoclinal  dip  to  the  northwest.  The 
wells  are  approximately  700  feet  deep.  The  surface  rocks 
are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvania!!)  sandstones  and  shales, 
and  Chester  (Mississippian)  limestones  and  sandstones. 

HISTORY — Practically  all  of  the  wells  in  the  Diamond 
Springs  gas  field  are  old  wells,  having  been  drilled  in  about 
1910. 

CENTRAL  CITY  GAS  FIELD — (19) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  closely  surrounding 
Central  City  and  Junction  Point  on  the  L.  &  N.  and  the 
I.C.  Railroads.  The  wells  are  located  close  to  the  town  and 
used  for  local  consumption.  The  production  is  not  large. 

GEOLOGY — The  gas  of  the  Central  City  gas  field  is 
found  in  the  Coal  Measures  in  association  with  No.  8  coal. 
The  structure  has  not  been  defined.  The  surface  rocks 
are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian) . 

HISTORY — The  first  productive  gas  well  was  drilled  in 
the  Central  City  region  about  1910. 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  59 

PENROD  GAS  FIELD — (20) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  the  southeastern 
part  of  Muhlenberg  County  on  Rocky  Creek,  between 
Rosewood,  Penrod  and  Dunmore. 

GEOLOGY — The  surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Penn- 
sylvanian)  sandstones,  shales  and  coals.  This  gas  field 
lies  about  two  miles  south  of  the  Twin  Tunnels  fault, 
and  is  on  the  upthrow  side  of  the  fault,  which  is  normal. 
The  displacement  of  the  break  is  unknown.  Its  direction 
is  S.  86  E.  The  normal  regional  dip  is  almost  due  north. 
Gas  pay  sands  are  reported  to  be  Pottsville  (Pennsyl- 
vanian),  and  are  found  at  a  depth  of  about  700  feet. 

HISTORY — The  field  is  new  and  to  date  only  four  wells 
have  been  drilled.  The  first  of  these  produced  a  small 
amount  of  gas  and  oil.  The  second  showed  about  300,000 
cubic  feet  of  gas  and  some  oil.  The  last  two  wells  pro- 
duced both  oil  and  gas.  Further  testing  is  contemplated 
for  the  near  future. 

NEWCOMBE  CREEK  GAS  FIELD — (21) 

The  Newcombe  Creek  field  is  located  in  the  southern- 
central  portion  of  Elliott  County,  Kentucky.  The  nearest 
railroad  station  is  Redwine  on  the  North  Fork  Railroad, 
and  is  ten  miles  distant.  The  field  is  about  four  miles 
long  and  from  one-half  to  three-quarters  miles  wide. 

GEOLOGY — The  gas  of  this  field  is  found  in  the  Wier 
and  Berea  sands  (Mississippian)  at  a  depth  of  about  800 
feet.  The  structure  is  an  elongated  dome,  the  major 
axis  of  which  is  nearly  north  and  south.  A  contour  map 
of  this  structure  has  been  published  by  the  Kentucky 
Geological  Survey  as  a  part  of  Series  V,  Bull.  I,  Oil  & 
Gas  Resources  of  Kentucky.  The  surface  rocks  are 
Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian)  sandstones,  shales  and  coals. 


60 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


NATUBAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  61 

HISTORY — Gas  was  first  secured  in  the  Elliott  County 
field  in  1917,  and  sporadic  drilling  has  continued  to  date, 
with  the  result  that  there  are  at  present  four  or  five  gas 
wells  in  this  field  which  produced  when  drilled  in  between 
250,000  and  1,000,000  cubic  feet  open  flow  per  day.  The 
gas  is  not  commercialized. 

SEXTON  CREEK  GAS  FIELD — (22) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  in  northwestern 
Clay  County  on  Sexton  Creek,  a  northeasternly  flowing 
tributary  to  the  South  Fork  of  the  Kentucky  River. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  is  an  anticline  which  has 
been  recognized  by  a  study  of  the  surficial  coals.  Pro- 
duction is  secured  from  the  Corniferous  (Devonian) 
limestone.  The  surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsyl- 
vanian)  sandstones,  shales  and  coals. 

HISTORY — The  discovery  well  of  this  field  was  drilled 
in  about  1918  by  Charles  Dulin  and  associates,  and  the 
amount  of  production  is  not  known.  The  nearest  rail- 
road station  is  Manchester,  which  is  located  ten  miles  to 
the  southeast. 

BARBOURVILLE  GAS  FIELD — (23) 

GEOGRAPHY — These  gas  fields  are  located  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Barbourville  and  Little  Richland 
Creek. 

GEOLOGY — The  gas  found  here  is  secured  in  the  Big 
Injun  (Mississippian),  Epperson,  Jones  and  Wages 
(Pennsylvanian)  sands.  No  large  structure  is  known 
to  exist  at  this  point,  and  gas  is  regarded  as  a  pocket 
deposit.  The  depths  of  the  wells  vary  from  400  to  1,400 
feet.  The  surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian). 


62  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

HISTORY — The  first  gas  well  of  commercial  importance 
in  the  Knox  County  gas  field  was  drilled  in  about  1900  by 
oil  prospectors.  In  1906  the  Cumberland  Gas  Co.  in- 
stalled its  transmission  line,  and  in  1907  began  supplying 
gas  to  domestic  consumers  in  Barbourville. 

TEMPLE  HILL  GAS  FIELD — (24) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  gas  field  is  located  in  southeastern 
Barren  County  on  the  head  of  Skaggs  Creek  at  Temple 
Hill  Post  Office.  The  field  is  ten  miles  distant  from  the 
nearest  railroad  station,  which  is  Glasgow. 

GEOLOGY — Gas  produced  in  the  Temple  Hill  gas 
field  is  secured  in  the  porous  strata  of  the  Ordovician 
limestone  at  a  depth  of  from  800  to  1,200  feet.  A  pro- 
nounced anticlinal  structure  with  a  northeast-southwest 
axis  is  responsible  for  the  gas  accumulation,  which  occurs 
in  pockets.  The  field  is  not  more  than  a  mile  long  and 
one-half  mile  wide.  The  surface  rocks  are  Warsaw  and 
Fort  Payne  (Lower  Mississippian)  limestones. 

HISTORY — The  first  producing  well  drilled  in  the 
Temple  Hill  gas  field  was  drilled  by  Merry  Bros,  of 
Glasgow,  Ky.,  in  1919.  The  well  produced  originally 
1,000,000  cubic  feet  of  gas,  after  which  it  rapidly  declined. 
Since  then  three  other  gas  wells  have  been  drilled  in  this 
section,  one  of  which  is  regarded  to  have  had  an  original 
production  considerably  over  5,000,000  cubic  feet.  This 
volume  rapidly  blew  off,  however,  and  the  well  declined 
to  a  very  nominal  pressure  and  volume.  This  gas  field 
is  not  regarded  as  one  of  large  commercial  importance, 
due  to  the  short  life  of  the  wells. 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY 


63 


MEREDITH  GAS  FIELD — (25) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  recognized  by  a  single 
well  located  \y£  miles  southeast  of  Meredith  Post  Office 
in  Grayson  County  on  the  C.  Hazelwood  farm.  The 
field  is  about  ten  miles  southeast  of  Leitchfield. 

GEOLOGY — The  index  gasser  of  this  field  is  located  on 
the  top  of  the  Meredith  dome.  Production  was  secured 


DRILLING  FOR  GAS  WITH  A  PORTABLE  RIG 

Throughout   Eastern   Kentucky   wherever   the    gas   sands    are   shallow 
enough  the  "portable  rig"  is  used  in  preference  to  the  "standard  derrick." 

in  the  Mississippian  System,  in  what  is  called  the  Major 
"Sand"  at  a  depth  of  1160  feet.  The  surface  rocks  are 
Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian)  sandstones,  shales  and  coals. 

HISTORY — This  well  was  drilled  in  1917  by  the  Ken- 
tucky Oil  &  Refining  Company.     When  gauged  by  the 
writer  in  November,  1921,  it  was  found  to  be  making 
00,000  cubic  feet,  with  a  rock  pressure  of  335  pounds. 


64  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

A  well  drilled  approximately  2^  miles  south  was  un- 
productive. There  is  no  commercial  outlet  for  the  gas 
of  this  field  at  the  present  time. 


CLOVERPORT  GAS  FIELD — (26) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  gas  field  is  located  in  northwestern 
Breckinridge  County  on  the  L.  &  N.  Railroad  surround- 
ing Cloverport  and  joining  the  Ohio  River. 

GEOLOGY  AND  HISTORY — The  gas  found  here  is  pro- 
duced from  a  "sand"  within  the  black  Chattanooga 
shale  (Devonian).  Wells  are  small,  and  have  been 
drilled  in  for  a  long  time.  Production  from  this  field 
reached  its  peak  a  number  of  years  ago,  since  which  time 
it  has  been  declining.  It  is  now  practically  abandoned, 
and  of  no  commercial  importance.  The  surface  rocks 
are  limestones  and  shales  of  the  Chester  Series  (Upper 
Mississippian) . 


ISLAND  CREEK  GAS  FIELD — (27) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  Owsley  County  gas  field  is  located 
in  the  southwestern  portion  of  Owsley  County  towards 
the  head  of  Island  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  South  Fork 
of  the  Kentucky  River.  The  nearest  railroad  station  is 
Cressmont  in  southern  Lee  County,  which  is  ten  miles 
distant  in  an  air  line  to  the  northwest.  The  nearest 
post  office  is  Travelers  Rest.  The  extent  of  the  gas 
field,  which  is  recognized  by  three  index  gas  wells,  is 
unknown. 

GEOLOGY — Structure  of  this  field  is  reported  to  be 
anticlinal,  with  regional  dip  to  the  southeast.  The 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OF  KENTUCKY  65 

field  is  located  close  to  the  bottom  of  the  Eastern  Kentucky 
geo-syncline.  The  surficial  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Penn- 
sylvanian)  sandstones,  shales  and  coals.  Gas  produc- 
tion is  secured  from  Corniferous  (Devonian)  limestone. 
The  wells  are  about  1,200  feet  deep. 

HISTORY — Gas  was  discovered  in  the  field  by  the 
Owsley  Oil  and  Gas  Company  in  the  Harve  Price  No.  1 
in  1918.  This  well  gauged  originally  1,250,000  cubic 
feet  open  flow.  Later,  the  Rufus  Barker  No.  1  was 
drilled,  with  initial  production  of  1,100,000  cubic  feet. 
The  Petroleum  Exploration  Co.  drilled  in  the  third 
gasser,  the  Aleck  Bond  No.  1,  which  had  an  original  open 
flow  of  1,050,000  cubic  feet  of  natural  gas.  Further 
developments  are  now  under  way  in  this  region. 


ROCK  FORK  GAS  FIELD— (28) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  Knott  County  gas  field  is  located 
toward  the  head  of  Rock  Fork  of  Right  Beaver  Creek, 
close  to  the  Floyd  County  line.  It  is  known  by  one  well 
only,  which  is  drilled  on  the  W.  R.  Bolin  farm. 

GEOLOGY — The  structure  of  this  field  is  anticlinal,  the 
fold  pitching  to  the  north.  The  gas  "sand"  is  a  porous 
strata  within  the  Big  Lime.  The  field  lies  close  to  the 
Beaver  Creek  field,  and  like  the  latter  field  is  located  on 
the  southeastern  flank  of  the  Eastern  Kentucky  geo- 
syncline.  The  surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvanian) 
sandstones,  shales  and  coals.  The  Kentucky  Geological 
Survey  has  prepared  a  structural  map  of  Knott  County. 

HISTORY — This  well  was  drilled  in  by  the  Pennagrade 
Oil  and  Gas  Co.  in  1917  while  prospecting  for  oil.  It 
gauged  4,680,000  cubic  feet,  had  a  rock  pressure  of  540 
pounds,  and  was  shut  in.  The  size  of  the  field  is  unknown, 


66  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

as  no  other  wells  have  been  drilled  in  this  immediate 
vicinity.  The  Big  Lime  sand,  while  a  big  flush  producer 
of  gas,  is  not  regarded  as  long-lived. 

PRESTONSBURG  GAS  FIELD — (29) 

GEOGRAPHY — This  field  is  located  on  Middle  Creek 
and  Bull  Creek  in  central  Floyd  County,  Ky. 

GEOLOGY — Surface  rocks  are  Pottsville  (Pennsylvan- 
ian)  sandstones,  shales  and  coals.  Gas  production  is 
secured  from  the  Wier  (Mississippian)  and  Corniferous 
(Devonian)  "sands"  at  depths  ranging  from  1,450  to  2,400 
feet.  The  structure  is  distinctly  anticlinal,  though 
located  close  to  the  Eastern  Kentucky  geo-syncline, 
which  passes  just  to  the  north  of  this  pool. 

HISTORY — This  small  gas  field  is  known  by  three 
wells,  two  on  Middle  Creek  and  one  on  Bull  Creek. 
The  first  one  was  drilled  in  on  the  John  Gray  farm  on 
Bull  Creek  in  1917  by  the  Eastern  Gulf  Oil  Company  in 
prospecting  for  oil.  The  Middle  Creek  wells  were  drilled 
in  1918  and  1919  by  A.  Fleming  and  associates  on  the 
Middle  Creek  Coal  Co.  tracts,  and  the  Eastern  Kentucky 
Development  Co.  on  the  W.  H.  Fitzpatrick  lease.  Gas 
from  all  three  of  these  wells  is  now  piped  at  Prestonsburg, 
where  it  is  used  by  domestic  consumers.  The  volume  and 
rock  pressure  of  these  wells  is  not  known,  but  they  were 
not  large.  The  Bull  Creek  well  is  the  best  gasser  of  the 
three. 


NATURAL  GAS  RESOURCES  OP  KENTUCKY  67 

MONTICELLO  GAS  FlELD — (30) 

AND 
SPARTA  GAS  FIELD — (31) 

These  fields  are  of  no  commercial  importance  at 
present,  though  each  gave  promise  of  commercialization 
for  a  time.  The  Monticello  field  was  located  close  to  the 
Wayne  County  town  of  the  same  name,  and  produced 
from  two  "sands,"  the  Berea  and  a  shallow  "sand"  above 
it.  Natural  gas  was  piped  into  Monticello  in  1918,  where 
it  was  used  for  a  few  months.  The  gas  reserves  of  Wayne 
County  were  rapidly  exhausted,  however,  and  new  ones 
could  not  be  developed. 

The  Sparta  field  is  located  in  southeastern  Gallatin 
County.  It  produced  a  considerable  amount  of  gas  in 
two  or  three  wells  drilled  during  the  years  1920  and  1921 
from  Ordovician,  possibly  Trenton,  sands.  The  produc- 
tion was  flashy  and  soon  exhausted.  It  was  never  commer- 
cialized except  for  drilling  purposes. 


CHAPTER  III 
OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 

It  is  not  difficult  to  establish  the  fact  that  natural 
gas  is  a  luxury  which  is  rapidly  decreasing  in  quantity 
in  many  places,  and  especially  in  the  Eastern  United 
States.  The  fact  has  been  well  established  in  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  and  West  Virginia.  It  is  now  being  established  in 
Kentucky  by  a  general  recognition  of  actual  conditions 
of  depletion  in  the  fields  throughout  the  State. 

At  a  time  when  the  public  is  beginning  to  give  its 
attention  to  the  certain  exhaustion  in  the  near  future  of 
this  valuable  mineral  resource,  it  is  pertinent  that  some 
consideration  be  given  to  those  industries  which  depend 
upon  it  for  their  continuance.  The  two  users  of  large 
quantities  of  natural  gas  in  Kentucky,  are:  The  public 
utilities  corporations,  which  supply  by  the  use  of  ex- 
tensive pipe  lines  the  domestic  consumers  in  our  cities 
and  the  carbon  black  corporations,  which  produce  and 
use  natural  gas  in  the  field  for  the  manufacture  of  carbon 
black.  Since  the  gas  field  interests  of  these  two  principal 
consumers  of  Kentucky's  natural  gas  are  in  direct  conflict, 
it  is  expedient  that  each  of  them  be  presented  separately, 
in  order  that  an  adequate  understanding  and  contrast  of 
their  economic  value  to  society  may  be  secured.  The 
public  service  corporations  supplying  natural  gas  will  be 
discussed  first,  and  the  carbon  black  manufacturers  later. 

PUBLIC  UTILITIES  CORPORATIONS  SUPPLYING 
NATURAL  GAS 

In  the  State  of  Kentucky  there  are  three  large  gas 
public  utilities  corporations.  One  of  these,  the  Central 
Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Company,  serves  through  its 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES  69 

subsidiaries  14,898  consumers  in  the  towns  of  Paintsville, 
Mt.  Sterling,  Winchester,  Paris,  Lexington,  Versailles, 
Midway  and  Frankfort.  Another,  the  Kentucky  Pipe 
Line  Company,  which  is  a  subsidiary  of  the  Louisville 
Gas  and  Electric  Company,  serves  49,710  consumers  in 
the  City  of  Louisville,  its  suburbs,  and  the  field  including 
Ivyton,  Magoffin  County.  Each  of  these  companies  owns 
and  operates  a  6,  8  and  12-inch  main  transmission  line 
extending  from  the  Martin  County  gas  field  in  Eastern 
Kentucky  through  to  their  respective  western  termini, 
Frankfort  and  Louisville.  The  Kentucky  Pipe  Line 
Company's  main,  222  miles  in  length,  was  constructed 
during  1913  and  1914,  and  was  completed  March  15,  1914. 
The  Central  Kentucky  Gas  Company's  main  line  was 
completed  in  1912.  This  latter  line  has  several  short 
connections  to  Eastern  Kentucky  fields,  principally  in 
Johnson  and  Menifee  Counties.  The  Kentucky  Pipe  Line 
Company  is  interested  as  a  small  stockholder  in  the 
natural  gas  transmission  line  of  the  Pennagrade  Oil  and 
Gas  Company  from  the  Beaver  Creek  gas  fields  in  Floyd 
County  to  its  main  line  in  Johnson  County.  The  Kentucky 
Pipe  Line  Company  also  owns  and  operates  a  gas  line 
from  the  Ivyton  gas  field  in  Magoffin  County  which 
connects  with  its  main  line  in  Johnson  County. 

Both  of  these  companies  have  made  much  use  of  the 
Martin  County,  Kentucky,  gas  fields  and  the  West  Vir- 
ginia gas  fields  in  the  past,  through  the  United  Fuel  Gas 
Company's  (Columbia  Gas  and  Electric  Co.),  service 
from  Inez  in  Martin  County.  Each  of  them  still  secures  a 
considerable  portion  of  their  natural  gas  from  this  source 
of  supply,  though  the  volume  which  this  large  West 
Virginia  service  corporation  has  been  able  to  give  to  the 
Kentucky  service  corporations  has  steadily  decreased 
during  the  last  several  years,  due  to  the  depreciation  of 


70 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


PRELIMINARY  WORK  ON  GAS  PIPE  LINE 

On  many  of  the  steep  hillsides  of  Eastern  Kentucky  "breakers"  have 
to  be  built  into  the  gas  pipe  line  ditch  to  prevent  washing.  This  view 
is  in  Morgan  County. 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


71 


the   source   of  natural   gas   supply  in   Martin   County, 
Kentucky,  and  elsewhere  in  West  Virginia. 

The  following  table  shows  the  volumes  and  values  of 
the  recent  annual  runs  of  some  of  the  larger  natural  gas 
public  utilities  corporations  of  Kentucky.  The  first 
serves  the  central  cities  and  the  second  Louisville,  princi- 
pally. 


UP  HILL,  DOWN  HILL,  AND   ON 

Big  gas  pipe  lines  in  Eastern  Kentucky  avoid  neither  the  hills  nor  the 
valleys  in  their  efforts  to  follow  the  shortest  course — a  straight  line. 

Runs  and  values  Central  Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Co.  (1919-21). 


Consumption, 
1000  Cu.  ft. 

1,548,579  $154,857.00 

2,005,989  200,599.00 

1,936,109  193,611.00 

Runs  and  Values  Kentucky  Pipe  Line  Co. 

1918  1,685,000  $186,529.00 

1919  1,965,000  194,535.00 

1920  2,760,000  276,864.00 


Yrs. 

1919 
1920 
1921 


Field  Value          Delivery  Value 


$619,431.60 
802,395.60 
774,443.60 

(1918-20). 

$589,750.00 
687,750.00 
966,000.00 


Larger  than  either  the  Kentucky  Pipe  Line  Co.  or  the 
Central  Kentucky  Gas  Co.  in  point  of  capitalization,  but 
much  inferior  to  these  corporations  in  point  of  direct 


72 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


service  to  Kentucky  municipal  consumers,  is  the  United 
Fuel  Gas  Co.'s  pipe  lines,  which  extend  northward  from 
Inez  in  the  Martin  County  fields  through  Louisa  to 
Catlettsburg  and  Ashland,  Huntington,  Ironton,  Ports- 
mouth, Cincinnati  and  other  points.  The  principal 
towns  and  cities  in  Kentucky  served  by  this  line  are  Inez, 
Louisa,  Buchanan,  Catlettsburg,  Ashland,  Maysville, 
Greenup,  Covington  and  Newport,  which  towns  taken 
altogether  consume  a  relatively  large  amount  of 
natural  gas. 

Comparison  of  Natural  Gas  Volumes  Produced  in  Kentucky 
and  the  Volumes  Imported  from  W.  Va.,  and  Ohio.* 


Volume 

Kentucky 

Volume 

Imported 

Total 

Year 

Produced 

Percentage 

Imported 

Percent- 

Volume 

in 

of 

from  W.  Va. 

of 

Consumed 

Kentucky. 

Consumption. 

and  Ohio. 

Consump- 

in Kentucky 

tion. 

1910 

1,356,771 

28% 

3,  423,  719 

72% 

4,  780,  490 

1911 

1,358,963 

29% 

3,  375,  617 

71% 

4,  734,  580 

1912 

1,  659,  696 

32% 

3,  443,  245 

68% 

5,  102,  941 

1913 

1,  821,  526 

37% 

3,  089,  516 

63% 

4,911,042 

1914 

1,421,818 

19% 

5,  803,  808 

81% 

7,  225,  626 

1915 

1,  667,  423 

21% 

6,  078,  930 

79% 

7,  746,  353 

1916 

2,  106,  542 

21% 

7,781,414 

79% 

9,887,956 

1917 

2,  802,  079 

23% 

9,  251,  366 

77% 

12,  053,  445 

1918 

3,  022,  439 

25% 

9,  177,  751 

75% 

12,  200,  190 

*  All  volumes  are  figured  in  M  cubic  foot  units ;  U.  S.  G.  S.  Min.  Res. 
adapted. 

Much  smaller  in  size  than  the  three  utilities  corpora- 
tions discussed  above  is  the  Green  River  Gas  Company, 
which  owns  a  large  portion  of  the  recently  outlined  Green 
River  gas  field  in  Green  and  Taylor  Counties,  Kentucky. 
This  company  operates  a  short  line  out  of  this  field  to 
Greensburg  and  Campbellsville,  and  is  proposing  the 
construction  of  a  pipe  line  from  Campbellsville  on  to 
Lebanon,  and  other  small  towns.  This  latter  line  has  not 
yet  been  constructed. 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


73 


Volumes  and  Values  of  Natural  Gas  Consumed  in  Kentucky.* 
(1910-1918.) 

(All  volumes  in  M  cubic  feet.) 


Year 

Total 
Volume 
Consumed. 

Value 
of   Con- 
sumption. 

Average 
Price   in 
Cents  Per 
M  cu.  ft. 

Percent- 
age of 
Increase 
over  Pre- 
vious Year. 

Volume 
Imported 
from  W.  Va. 
and  Ohio. 

1910 

4  780  490 

$908  293 

19  00 

3,  423,  719 

1911 
1912 
1913 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 

4,734,580 
5,102,941 
5,911,042 
7,  225,  626 
7,746,353 
9,887,956 
12,  165,  489 
12,  200,  190 

901,759 
1,070,664 
1,  225,  116 
1,787,308 
1,942,423 
2,331,687 
3,114,402 
3,  093,  393 

19.05 
20.98 
20.72 
24.73 
25.08 
23.59 
25.84 
25.35 

l%t 
7.56% 
15.83% 

22% 
7% 
28% 
22% 
.0028% 

3,  375,  617 
3,  443,  245 
3,  089,  516 
5,803,808 
6,078,930 
7,  781,  414 
9,251,366 
9,177,751 

Total 

69,  754,  667 

16,  375,  045 

Gen.  Av.  22.7 

51,  425,  366 

*  The  major  totals  include  all  of  the  Kentucky  produced  natural  gas, 
plus  that  which  is  imported  from  West  Virginia  and  Ohio;  U.  S.  G.  S. 
Min.  Res.  adapted. 

f  Decrease  of  1911  compared  to  1910. 


The  amount  of  natural  gas  furnished  by  the  public 
utilities  corporations  of  this  State  and  consumed  by  the 
householders  of  our  Kentucky  cities  is  very  large,  totaling 
according  to  the  best  figures  available  2,760,000  M 
cubic  feet  in  1920.  The  following  table  shows  the  distri- 
bution and  production  of  natural  gas  in  the  cities  service 
industries. 

The  average  individual  has  but  little  conception  of 
the  large  number  of  domestic  consumers  who  are  served 
by  the  public  utilities  corporations  of  this  State,  and  of 
the  real  and  widespread  dependence  placed  upon  this 
fuel  source  for  domestic  heating  and  lighting.  The 
following  table  shows  the  distribution  of  domestic  and 
industrial  consumers  from  1906  to  1918. 


74 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


75 


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76 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


Consumers  and  Producers  of  Natural  Gas  in  Kentucky.' 
(1906-1918.) 


Year 

Domestic. 

Industrial. 

Total 
Consumers. 

Number  of 
Producers. 

1906 

17,  216 

18 

17,  234 

45 

1907 

19,  279 

239 

19,  518 

38 

1908 

21,778 

42 

21,820 

38 

1909 

25,  639 

137 

25,776 

38 

1910 

27,961 

112 

28,073 

47 

1911 

41,  201 

70 

41,  271 

74 

1912 

45,  603 

103 

45,706 

88 

1913 

54,  446 

146 

54,  592 

93 

1914 

78,  505 

128 

78,  633 

101 

1915 

84,  666 

117 

84,  783 

86 

1916 

85,583 

125 

85,  708 

107 

1917 

90,041 

124 

90,  165 

118 

1918 

90,849 

100 

90,949 

122 

The  widespread  use  of  natural  gas  for  fuel  and  light 
in  Kentucky  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  sixty-two  towns 
and  cities,  and  nearly  100,000  consumers,  are  now  de- 
pendent upon  it. 


Recent  Natural  Gas  Deliveries  to  Louisville,  Ky. 


(Volumes  in  M  Cubic  Feet) 


Month  Deliveries 

1919 

January 291,000 

February    272,000 

March    282,000 

April    245,000 

May   218,000 

June 145,000 

July   144,000 

August    155,000 

September    164,000 

October 205,000 

November 289,000 

December  ---  357,000 

Total   2,766,000 


Deliveries 
1920 

365,000 
343,000 
314,000 
306,000 
237,000 
169,000 
164,000 
168,000 
183,000 
254,000 
357,000 
412,000 


Deliveries 
1921 

392,000 
356,000 
303,000 
270,000 
228,000 
155,000 
165,000 
188,000 
190,000 
308,000 
346,000 
440,000 


3,272,000    3,340,000 


*  U.  S.  G.  S.  Min.  Res.  adapted. 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


77 


Kentucky  Towns  and  Cities  Using  Natural  Gas-1921 : 

32  Kenner. 

33  Langley. 

34  Leitchfield— 100. 

35  Lexington— 7,315. 

36  Louisa. 

37  Louisville— 49,685. 

38  Ludlow. 

39  Maysville— 1,544. 

40  Maytown. 

41  Midway. 

42  Monticello. 

43  Mt.  Sterling— 1,134. 

44  Newport. 

45  North  Middletown. 

46  Paints ville— 369. 

47  Paris— 1,300. 

48  Pollard. 

49  Prestonsburg— 250. 

50  Rothwell. 

51  Russell. 

52  Salyersville— 100. 

53  Versailles— 116. 

54  Warfield. 

55  Wayland. 

56  West  Covington. 

57  West  Liberty. 

58  West  Point. 

59  Wheelwright. 

60  Williamsburg— 300. 

61  Winchester— 2,026. 

62  Worthington. 


1  Ashland. 

2  Barbourville. 

3  Belle vue. 

4  Brooksville. 

5  Buchanan. 

6  Burning  Springs. 

7  Campbells  ville— 475*. 

8  Caney. 

9  Cannel  City. 

10  Catlettsburg. 

11  Central  City— 250. 

12  Chinnville. 

13  Clifton. 

14  Clintonville. 

15  Cloverport— 200. 

16  Cold  Spring. 

17  Covington— 28,567. 

18  Dayton. 

19  Diamond  Springs. 

20  Dover. 

21  Estill. 

22  Foster. 

23  Frankfort— 2,638. 

24  Garrett. 

25  Glasgow— 30. 

26  Greensburg— 125. 

27  Greenup. 

28  Hazel  Green. 

29  Inez. 


30  Ivy  ton— 25. 

31  Kavanaugh. 

In  summation,  the  public  utilities  natural  gas  service 
corporations  of  the  State  of  Kentucky  have  at  present 
invested  capital  in  the  sum  of  approximately  $25,000,000 
in  their  endeavors  to  serve  municipal  domestic  consumers 
with  fuel  and  light.  At  the  present  time  there  is  invested 
by  the  natural  gas  consuming  public  not  less  than  $9,500,- 
000.  In  the  year  1918,  90,849  individual  consumers  in 
the  towns  and  cities  of  Kentucky  used  12,200,190 
cubic  feet  of  natural  gas,  which  was  worth  $1,220,019 
in  the  field,  and  $3,093,393  to  the  purchasing  public. 
Data  for  1921,  were  it  available,  would  undoubtedly 
show  a  considerable  increase  in  both  the  total  volume 
and  value  of  the  natural  gas  consumed  in  Kentucky. 

*  The  number  of   consumers   is   given  where   known. 


78 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


OUR  NATUEAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


79 


Volumes  and  Values  of  Natural  Gas  Produced  in 
Kentucky  and  Consumed  in  Kentucky. 


Year 

Volume 
Natural 
Gas  Produced 
in  Kentucky 
M  cu.  ft.  Unit. 

Value  of 
Production 
in  the  Field  at 
10  Cents  Per 
M  cu.  ft. 

Value  of 
Kentucky 
Produced 
Natural  Gas 
Consumed  in 
Kentucky. 

Average 
Rate  Per 
M  cu.  ft. 

1890 

100,000 

$10,  000 

$30,  000 

.30 

1891 

129,  973 

12,  997 

38,  993 

.30 

1892 

143,916 

14,  392 

43,  175 

.30 

1893 

228,  333 

22,  833 

68,  500 

.30 

1894 

277,  333 

27,733 

89,200 

.30 

1895 

329,  000 

32,  900 

98,  700 

.30 

1896 

330,  000 

33,000 

99,  000 

.30 

1897 

300,000 

30,  000 

90,000 

.30 

1898 

343,  766 

34,  377 

103,  133 

.30 

1899 

419,  150 

41,915 

125,  745 

.30 

1900 

646,  773 

64,  677 

194,  032 

.30 

1901 

625,  533 

62,  553 

187,  660 

.30 

1902 

852,  603 

85,  260 

255,  781 

.30 

1903 

935,  753 

93,  575 

280,  726 

.30 

1904 

895,  213 

89,  521 

268,  564 

.30 

1905 

848,  535 

84,  854 

237,  590 

.28 

1906 

1,026,790 

102,  679 

287,  501 

.28 

1907 

1,  357,  777 

135,  778 

380,  176 

.28 

1908 

1,515,254 

151,  525 

424,  271 

.28 

1909 

2,097,471 

209,  747 

485,  192 

.23+ 

1910 

,  356,  771 

135,  677 

456,  293 

.34- 

1911 

,  358,  963 

135,  590 

407,  689 

.30 

1912 

1,  659,  696 

165,  970 

497,  909 

.30 

1913 

,  821,  526 

182,  153 

509,  846 

.28 

1914 

,421,818 

142,  182 

490,875 

.35 

1915 

,  667,  423 

166,742 

614,  998 

.368 

1916 

2,  106,  542 

210,  654 

752,  635 

.34 

1917 

2,  802,  079 

280,  208 

872,  706 

.34 

1918 

3,  022,  439 

302,  243 

1,027,629 

.34 

1919 

3,  942,  000 

394,  200 

1,103,760 

.28* 

1920 

3,  497,  000 

349,  700 

1,014,130 

.29* 

1921 

4,742,000 

474,  200 

1,  360,  340 

.27* 

Total  

42,  801,  430 

$4,  279,  835 

$12,  896,  749 

Gen.  Av.  .311 

*  Volumes  and  values  of  1919,  1920,  and  1921  estimated.  Average 
price  per  M  decline  is  due  to  increasingly  large  amounts  of  natural  gas 
consumed  by  carbon  black  manufacturers  in  Eastern  Kentucky  at  lo-vr 
figure  of  10i  cents  per  M  cubic  feet. 


80  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

CARBON  BLACK  DEFINED 

There  is  a  popular  confusion  among  laymen  in  the  use 
of  the  terms  lamp  black  and  carbon  black.  This  should 
not  be,  for  they  are  two  entirely  distinct  commodities. 
Although  their  appearance  is  somewhat  similar,  their 
method  of  manufacture  is  entirely  different,  lamp  black 
being  a  by-product  of  oil,  and  carbon  black  a  by-product 


EASTERN  CAEBON  PLANT  IN  OPERATION 

This  plant  is  located  in  the  Beaver  Creek  Gas  Field  in  Floyd  County, 
Ky.     Dence  soot  or  carbon  fumes  make  detailed  photographs  impossible. 

of  natural  gas.  Both  of  these  commodities  are  a  soot, 
and  throughout  the  United  States  they  are  commonly 
classed  together  in  the  literature  under  the  title  "lamp 
black."  Each  product  is  formed  by  a  smudge  or  partial 
combustion  process  in  which  oil,  coal  tar,  resin  or  some 
other  solid  or  liquid  carbonaceous  substance  is  burned 
in  an  insufficient  quantity  of  oxygen  or  air. 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES  81 

Carbon  black  taken  separately  refers  to  the  product 
resulting  from  the  incomplete  combustion  of  gas,  and  is 
deposited  by  actual  contact  of  the  flame  upon  some 
metallic  substance.  A  large  number  of  carbonaceous 
materials,  such  as  gas  retort  coke,  oil  coke,  graphite, 
carbon  black,  lamp  black,  fine  black,  wood  pulp  black, 
willow  charcoal  refuse  blacks,  and  leather  blacks,  are 
prepared  and  on  the  market.  Each  of  these  possess 
different  flocculent  and  qualitative  characteristics. 
None  of  them  show  the  same  color,  chemical  composition, 
or  physical  structure.  Each  kind  of  "black"  has  its  own 
specific  adaptation  or  adaptations,  and  is  not  readily 
substituted  for  another.  In  some  cases  substitutes  are 
impossible. 

The  term  carbon  black  is  synonymous  with  a  number 
of  trade  names  developed,  and,  in  some  instances,  copy- 
righted, by  carbon  black  manufacturers.  Some  of 
these  commercial  titles  are  Gas  Black,  Natural  Gas 
Black,  Ebony  Black,  Jet  Black,  Hydro-Carbon  Black, 
Satin  Gloss  Black,  Silicate  of  Carbon  Black. 

All  of  these  carbon  blacks  are  made  in  one  of  the  four 
following  methods:  (1)  formation  by  direct  contact 
of  the  natural  gas  flame  upon  a  depositing  surface;  (2) 
produced  by  combustion  of  the  oil,  tar,  etc.,  in  an  inade- 
quate supply  of  air  where  soot  is  allowed  to  settle  slowly 
on  the  floors  and  walls  of  the  collecting  chambers;  (3) 
carbonization  of  solids  after  their  reduction  to  a  very 
finely  divided  condition;  (4)  produced  by  heating  carbon- 
aceous vapors  or  gases  to  the  temperature  of  decomposi- 
tion. The  heat  is  applied  externally  with  or  without 
air  in  the  forming  chambers.  This  is  called  the  cracking 
or  thermal  decomposition  method.  Carbon  blacks  so 
produced  are  essentially  a  mixture  of  hydro-carbon  and 
other  organic  substances,  and  may  in  certain  cases  con- 
tain a  considerable  percentage  of  mineral  matter. 


82  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

HISTORY  OF  THE  CARBON  BLACK  INDUSTRY. 

Carbon  black  as  an  industry  was  born  in  the  year 
1872,  when  two  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Halworth  and  Lamb, 
of  Massachusetts,  erected  at  New  Cumberland,  West 
Virginia,  the  first  factory  in  the  product  which  was 
successfully  made  on  a  commercial  scale.  At  this  early 
time  no  regulatory  appliances  for  natural  gas  were  known, 
and  a  very  great  waste  of  natural  gas  resulted.  The 
indiscriminate  blowing  of  natural  gas  was  not,  however, 
recognized  as  an  economic  waste  at  this  early  time. 
Since  1826,  when  natural  gas  was  first  used  for  lighting 
purposes  in  the  United  States,  at  Fredonia,  New  York, 
no  regulating  appliances  had  been  perfected.  The  total 
consumption  of  natural  gas  in  this  way  was  small.  Nat- 
ural gas  itself  was  very  cheap,  and  the  waste  in  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  used  was  very  large.  At  this  time 
natural  gas  was  considered  a  dangerous  nuisance,  to  be 
"blown  off"  in  an  oil  field  whenever  found  if  possible,  or 
to  be  disposed  of  in  any  other  practical  or  safe  way. 

For  a  short  time  the  manufacturers  of  carbon  black  at 
New  Cumberland,  West  Virginia,  though  employing 
very  crude  methods  involving  slabs  of  soap-stone  as 
depositing  surfaces  for  the  carbon  black,  had  things 
their  own  way  and  sold  their  product  to  the  trade  at  a 
maximum  of  $2.50  per  pound.  Their  product,  however, 
was  in  many  ways  not  as  excellent  as  that  which  has 
recently  sold  for  five  and  six  cents  per  pound.  The  demand 
for  carbon  black  increased  rapidly,  and  in  1883  A.  R. 
Blood  devised  the  revolving  disc  method  of  manufacturing 
carbon  black.  This  process  is  still  in  use,  and  is  now 
known  as  the  "Blood  or  Rotating  Disc"  method. 

The  new  process  improved  the  methods  of  production 
and  brought  the  price  down  to  31  cents  per  pound. 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES  83 

Mr.  Blood,  working  to  perfect  a  better  process  of  carbon 
black  manufacture,  evolved  the  roller  process  about  the 
same  time,  which,  though  it  gave  a  much  smaller  yield 
of  carbon  black,  produced  a  much  finer  grade.  Carbon 
black  thus  produced  sells  today  for  a  higher  price  than 
other  grades.  About  ten  years  later,  in  1892,  L.  J.  McNutt 
patented  his  channel  process,  which  was  an  improvement 
over  all  the  other  methods  from  a  mechanical  stand- 
point. It  was  at  this  time  that  petroleum  was  first  in- 
troduced in  the  attempted  manufacture  of  carbon  black. 
The  trial  was  unsuccessful.  Since  the  time  McNutt's 
patent  was  registered,  a  number  of  improved  methods  have 
been  completed,  most  of  which  are  not  practical.  In  1916 
a  patent  was  issued  covering  a  new  process  for  the  pro- 
duction of  carbon  black  from  the  mulsified  or  cut  crude 
oil,  now  a  great  oil  field  waste.  But  this  method  has  not 
succeeded  from  a  commercial  standpoint. 

PRODUCTION  OF  CARBO  N  BLACK 

Up  until  the  recent  discovery  of  the  large  natural  gas 
fields  near  Monroe  and  Shreveport,  in  Louisiana,  about 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  world's  supply  of  carbon 
black  was  produced  in  West  Virginia,  which  had  been 
producing  and  selling  natural  gas  for  about  3  cents  and 
4  cents  per  1,000  cubic  feet.  Recent  advances  in  the  price 
of  West  Virginia  natural  gas  to  7  cents  and  8  cents  per 
1,000  cubic  feet  forced  many  of  the  carbon  black  manu- 
facturers of  this  State  to  move  to  other  sections  where  gas 
could  be  secured  at  a  lower  figure.  In  Louisiana  the 
average  price  is  2  cents  and  in  Oklahoma  5  cents  to  6>2 
cents  per  1,000  cubic  feet.  In  the  State  of  West  Virginia 
in  1918  there  was  produced  289,123,513,000  cubic  feet  of 
gas,  of  which  24,830,697,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  was  consumed 
in  carbon  black  manufacture.  This  represented  a  reduction 
of  the  immense  volume  of  natural  gas  used  for  carbon 


84  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

black  purposes  amounting  to  1,232,009,000  cubic  feet 
for  the  entire  State  of  West  Virginia  as  compared  with  the 
production  figures  of  1917.  But  because  of  the  decrease  in 
the  total  production  of  natural  gas  for  the  entire  state,  the 
percentage  of  natural  gas  used  by  carbon  black  really 
jumped  ahead  from  8.5  per  cent  in  1917  to  8.7  per  cent  in 
1918.  Statistics  covering  the  recent  production  of  carbon 
black  in  the  United  States  follow: 


NORTH  VIEW  OF  LIBERTY  CARBON  PLANT 

This  carbon  manufacturing  plant  is  located  in  the  Beaver  Creek  Gas 
Field.  The  escaping  fumes  of  carbon  or  soot  indicate  a  portion  of  the 
lost  fuel. 

TABLE  I. 

Production  of  Carbon  Black  from  Natural  Gas  in 
the  United  States  in  1918. 

West  Virginia _..  30,  000, 000  Ibs. 

Louisiana 8, 000, 000  Ibs. 

Wyoming 3,  000, 000  Ibs. 

Oklahoma 1,  500,000  Ibs. 

Other  States,  including  Kentucky..       1,000,000  Ibs. 
Total..  43, 500, 000  Ibs. 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


85 


g 


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CGCG 


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1>-'CO         Tji 


CO  GO 

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05^ 
rH  CO 
TH  CO  t> 


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Si|l|l| 


86 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


USES  OF  CARBON  BLACK 

The  industries  making  large  use  of  carbon  black  are 
many.  The  product  enters  as  a  necessary  constituent 
into  the  manufacture  of  printing  inks,  automobile  rubber 
tires,  paints,  stove  and  shoe  polishes,  phonograph  records, 
black  leathers,  bookbinders'  boards,  buttons,  typewriter 
ribbons,  carbon  papers,  celluloids,  electric  insulators, 


NORTHEASTERN  VIEW  OF  EASTERN  CARBON  PLANT 

The  methods  used  by  this  plant  are  as  good  as  any  now  known  and  in 
general  and  commercial  use.    The  fuel  loss  percentage  is  nevertheless  high. 

carriage  cloths,  colors  and  pigments,  drawing  and  mark- 
ing inks,  artificial  stones,  tarpaulins  and  black  tiles. 
Carbon  black  superseded  the  use  of  lamp  black  as  a 
pigment  in  printers'  ink  in  1864,  when  it  was  found  that  a 
blacker  and  more  rapid  imprint  could  be  obtained  from 
inks  using  carbon  black  as  a  pigment.  Modern  newspaper 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES  87 

printing  and  other  forms  of  rapid  printing  where  rotary 
presses  require  a  rapid  drying  ink,  find  carbon  black  inks 
indispensable.  The  finely  divided  nature  of  carbon  black 
is  well  illustrated  when  it  is  pointed  out  that  a  single 
pound  when  mixed  with  eight  pounds  of  oil  and  other 
chemicals  will  make  ink  sufficient  in  quantity  to  print 
over  2,000  copies  of  the  ordinary  sixteen-page  city  news- 
paper. 

About  35  per  cent  of  the  total  output  of  carbon  black 
is  used  in  the  printers'  ink  industry.  The  rubber  tire 
manufacturing  business  of  this  country  is  the  other  large 
individual  consumer  of  carbon  black.  It  is  used  in  tire 
manufacture  as  a  strengthening  agent,  giving  the  rubber 
a  greater  mileage  and  increasing  its  tensile  strength  and 
elasticity  considerably.  About  40  per  cent  of  the  carbon 
black  manufactured  in  this  country  is  used  in  the  rubber 
tire  business,  and  the  large  number  of  black  tread  tires 
seen  on  the  market  is  illustrative  of  the  importance  and 
value  of  this  use  of  carbon  black. 

The  amount  of  carbon  black  exported  to  foreign 
countries  during  the  war  and  shortly  thereafter  was  small, 
chiefly  because  of  the  closing  of  the  German  and  Aus- 
trian ports.  Prior  to  1914  about  one-third  of  the  carbon 
black  manufactured  in  this  country  went  to  these  coun- 
tries. England,  France,  China  and  Japan  also  imported 
American  carbon  black.  Recently  the  export  of  this 
mineral  resource  by-product  has  increased  considerably, 
due  to  the  stimulation  of  world  trade.  The  renewal  of 
relations  with  Germany  and  Austria  may  also  be  expected 
to  increase  the  annual  export  very  considerably. 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION  AND  RECOVERY  PERCENTAGE. 

Analyses  of  natural  gases  are  extremely  variable. 
The  following  ranges  of  methane  in  natural  gas  have 
been  demonstrated: 

Louisiana 94. 12 

West  Virginia 70.75 

West  Virginia 65.23 

Wyoming 46. 45 

The  ethane  fraction  is  quite  as  variable,  and  is  as  follows : 

Louisiana 3. 44 

West  Virginia 24.14 

West  Virginia 30.07 

Wyoming 43.10 

The  nitrogens  also  vary  as  follows : 

Louisiana 1.94 

West  Virginia 4.83 

West  Virginia 3.14 

Wyoming 9.49 

The  carbons  per  one  thousand  feet  also  show  an  ine- 
quality which  is  as  follows: 

Louisiana 33. 8  Ibs. 

West  Virginia 39.9  Ibs. 

West  Virginia 42.3  Ibs. 

Wyoming __  _  44. 3  Ibs. 

That  the  percentage  of  carbon  recovery  in  the  carbon 
black  industries  is  relatively  small  is  soon  seen  by  a 
comparison  of  recovery  volumes  with  the  above  figures. 
The  great  waste  of  carbon  is,  however,  only  a  fraction  of 
the  total  loss.  To  it  must  be  added  all  of  the  hydrogen 
which,  of  course,  could  not  be  deposited,  and  is  lost  as 
unused  heat.  The  carbon  recovery  for  the  States  dis- 
cussed above  is  as  follows : 

Louisiana 2.4 

West  Virginia 2.5 

West  Virginia 2.6 

Wyoming 3.1 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


COMPARISON  OF  METHODS. 

The  four  commercial  processes  perfected  and  used  in 
manufacturing  carbon  black  have  many  merits  and 
demerits,  but  are  generally  evaluated  in  the  following 
order : 

(1)  Channel  system.  This  system  produces  the 
largest  quantity  and  the  best  commercial  grade.  (2) 


MAKING  NATURAL  GAS  CARBON  BLACK 

This  view  shows  both  the  factory  and  dwellings  used  by  employees  of 
The  Eastern  Carbon  Company  on  Beaver  Creek,  Floyd  County,  Kentucky. 

Small  rotating  disc.     This  method  is  inferior  in  some 
respects   to   the    channel   system,    but   is   widely   used. 

(3)  The  rotating  cylinder.     This  process  produces  the 
best  grade  of  carbon  black,  but  a  much  smaller  quantity. 

(4)  The    large    plate.      This    method    produces  a  larger 
quantity  than  the  rotating  cylinder,  but  is  inferior  to  it 
in  grade.     It  does  not  produce  as  large  an  amount  as 


90  NATUBAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

the  rotating  disc  or  the  channel  system.  There  is  very 
little  carbon  black  produced  by  the  so-called  "cracking 
process." 

The  factors  affecting  the  yield  of  carbon  black  are: 
(1)  Design  of  the  plant.  (2)  Weather  conditions.  (3) 
Pressure  of  natural  gas.  (4)  Absence  of  salt  water  or 
oil  or  other  mineral  substance  in  the  natural  gas.  Some 
of  these  factors  are  within  the  control  of  the  carbon 
black  manufacturer.  It  is  seldom,  however,  that  all  of 
them  are  found  operating  favorably  in  any  individual 
plant. 

Carbon  black  has  been  made  from  artificial  gas,  but 
the  product  is  much  more  costly  than  the  natural  gas 
carbon  blacks.  The  artificial  gases  produce  glossy,  in- 
tense carbon  blacks,  which  in  turn  result  in  rather  high 
price  printing  inks.  Although  there  is  a  considerable 
difference  in  the  quality  of  the  blacks  made  from  artificial 
gas  and  natural  gas,  the  one  could  undoubtedly  supersede 
the  other,  if  it  were  absolutely  necessary.  Carbon  black 
could  also  be  made  from  illuminating,  black,  furnace, 
producer,  or  coke  oven  gas,  were  it  not  for  the  prohibi- 
tive cost  of  the  manufacture  of  these  several  gases. 

Experiments  looking  toward  the  production  of  carbon 
black  by  the  explosion  of  mixtures  of  acetylene  gas  and 
air  under  a  known  pressure  have  not  been  a  commercial 
success.  The  grade  of  carbon  black  thus  produced  has 
also  been  inferior.  As  compared  to  this  method  of 
production,  the  straight  burning  of  acetylene  gas  gives  a 
much  larger  recovery  figure,  one  ranging  about  17%, 
and  the  black  thus  secured  is  a  superior  product.  For 
some  industrial  purposes,  such  as  phonograph  records, 
medical  hard  rubber,  stove  and  shoe  polish,  some  grades 
of  printer's  ink,  and  black  paint  and  other  pigment,  it 
may  be  possible  to  substitute  lamp  black  or  other  kinds 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES 


91 


A  PORTABLE   DRILLING  RIG 

In  the   shallow  gas  fields  well  drilling  is   done  by   "churn"    drills, 
generally  of  the  type  shown  above. 


92  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

of  carbon  blacks  for  natural  gas  carbon  black,  but  up  to 
the  present  time  it  has  not  been  demonstrated  that  other 
adequate  substitutes  exist  for  the  carbon  black  used  in 
the  newspaper  and  book  printing  ink  and  the  rubber 
tire  industries. 

Various  attempts  to  find  certain  mixtures  of  fuel  and 
gas  oil  from  which  a  gas  could  be  produced  for  the  manu- 
facture of  carbon  black  have  not  been  commercially 
successful.  Other  methods  of  production  have  also  been 
tried  and  resulted  in  commercial  failure.  Chlorine  has 
been  added  to  the  burning  natural  gas  in  an  effort  to 
secure  a  greater  deposition  of  carbon,  but  this  has  also 
failed.  It  is  difficult  to  increase  the  production  of  carbon 
black,  for  such  processes  as  do  increase  the  deposit  of 
black  also  increase  the  amount  of  black  carried  away  in 
flue  gases.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  increase  the  deposit 
of  carbon  somewhat  by  improving  the  design  of  plants 
whereby  they  may  be  operated  more  or  less  independently 
of  wind  and  weather  conditions.  The  process  of  thermal 
decomposition,  now  only  partially  understood,  may, 
following  further  investigation,  offer  a  method  of  increased 
productivity  and  conservation  in  the  manufacture  of 
carbon  black. 

THEORY  OF  FORMATION  OF  CARBON  BLACK 


When-  'natural  g&tfb&Fnk  in  an  incomplete  supply  of  air 
or  oxygen',  the  'carbon  'contained  is  liberated  in  the  heat 
of  tfter  8#Stee?  &&  a?  direct1  qlepomposition  product  of  the 
unburned  gas.  The  cool  metallic  depositing  surface 
functions  to  chill  the  liberated  carbon  in  the  flame  suffi- 
ciently to  prevent  its  further  combustion.  A  metallic 
surface  that  is  cold  may  prevent  the  maximum  separation 
of  carbon,  and  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  is  too  hot,  it  may 
allow  too  much  carbon  to  be  burned.  In  this  event,  the 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES  93 

properties  of  the  carbon  that  remain  unconsumed  will 
be  altered  to  some  degree.  The  temperature  of  the 
channels  in  the  process  of  similar  name,  is  aboui  300 
degrees.  Careful  air  regulation  has  much  to  do  with  the 
amount  of  carbon  black  which  will  be  produced,  since  too 
much  air  may  readily  allow  a  larger  combustion  of  the 
carbon  already  affixed  to  the  plate. 


LIBERTY  CARBON  PLANT  IN  OPERATION 

The  dense  sooty  fumes  are  principally  composed  of  carbon  black  which 
the  process  is  unable  to  retain.  This  lost  carbon  is  only  a  part  of  the 
waste  which  is  beyond  control. 

Some  newly  developed  processes  using  a  retort  and  re- 
fractory material  at  about  1,200  degrees  centigrade  or 
above,  give  a  theoretical  yield  of  about  40  per  cent,  but 
the  carbon  black  thus  produced  is  not  of  a  salable  grade. 
The  process  is  in  reality  only  an  experiment  which  demon- 
strates the  separation  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  by  this 
method.  It  suggests,  however,  the  possibility  of  an 


94  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


increased  production  of  carbon  black.  Under  the  micro- 
scope, lamp  black,  which  is  recognized  in  the  industries  as 
a  somewhat  less  intense  black  than  carbon  black,  fre- 
quently appears  blacker  and  more  opaque. 

KENTUCKY  CARBON  BLACK  INDUSTRY 

At  the  present  time  there  are  but  two  carbon  black 
plants  in  operation  in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  These  are 
the  Liberty  Carbon  Company's  plant  at  Langley,  Ky., 
the  juncture  of  Wilson's  Creek  and  Right  Beaver  Creek 
in  Floyd  County,  and  the  Eastern  Carbon  Company's 
plant  at  Osborne  on  Right  Beaver  Creek,  also  in  Floyd 
County,  Ky.  Both  of  these  operations  are  located  in  the 
heart  of  the  Beaver  Creek  gas  pool.  Each  of  them  will  be 
discussed  separately. 

OPERATION  OF  THE  LIBERTY  CARBON  COMPANY 

Oldest  in  point  of  establishment,  the  Liberty  Carbon 
Company's  plant  at  Langley,  Kentucky,  was  first  put  in 
operation  in  June,  1918.  The  so-called  channel  process  of 
manufacturing  carbon  black  is  used.  Its  operation  has 
been  practically  continuous  to  date,  fourteen  separate 
units  being  operated,  with  a  total  daily  capacity  of 
natural  gas  consumption  of  2,750,000  cubic  feet.  At 
the  time  the  plant  was  opened  it  was  supplied  with  the 
natural  gas  by  the  Keystone  Gas  Company,  four  wells 
being  used  which  has  an  open  flow  at  the  casinghead  of 
approximately  7,000,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  day,  and  an 
average  rock  pressure  of  about  235  pounds. 

By  the  spring  of  1919  these  wells  had  become  so 
reduced  that  the  J.  Akres  well,  which  is  reported  to  have 
had  an  open  flow  of  2,500,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  day  and 


OUE  NATURAL  GAS,  INDUSTRIES 


95 


rock  pressure  of  500  pounds,  was  connected.  At  this  same 
time  it  is  reported  that  some  of  the  original  wells  had 
been  invaded  by  salt  water,  with  a  resulting  loss  of  gas 
production.  During  the  first  several  months  of  operation 
this  carbon  plant  operated  at  full  capacity.  In  May,  1920, 
the  best  estimates  available  indicate  that  this  plant  was 


RAILROAD  YARD— LIBERTY  CARBON  COMPANY, 
FLOYD   COUNTY,   KENTUCKY 

using  1,500,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  from  all  wells  available 
which  had  an  original  open  flow  of  about  10,000,000 
cubic  feet.  The  rock  pressure  during  these  two  years  of 
operation  had  fallen  to  approximately  115  pounds. 

During  the  summer  of  1920,  with  very  light  pressure  at 
the  plant  end  of  the  line,  gas  depletion  began  to  make 


96 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


UllBERTY     CAI 


A  PORTION  OF  THE  BEAVER  CREEK  GAS  FIELD 

This  sketch  map  shows  the  location  of  the  principal  natural  gas  produc- 
ing area,  the  carbon  black  plants,  and  the  main  pipe  lines.  Only  the  recent 
or  commercially  important  producing  gas  wells  are  shown.  A  number  of 
wells  in  the  old  oil  and  gas  pools  at  Bosco  and  Garrett  are  not  indicated. 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES  97 

itself  noticeable,  and  two  emergency  test  wells  were  put 
down  on  Turkey  Creek  to  the  Berea  sand.  Each  of  these 
showed  less  than  500,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  day,  but 
decreased  prices  and  demand  made  it  possible  for  these 
wells  to  carry  the  desired  operation  of  the  plant.  In  August 
1921,  an  additional  test  well  was  put  down  on  Hays  Branch 
of  Turkey  Creek  to  the  Bradley  sand,  and  this  well  is 
reported  to  have  gauged  about  6,000,000  cubic  feet  of 
gas  open  flow,  although  it  was  only  about  1,500  feet  from 
a  well  that  was  practically  dry  in  the  Bradley  sand. 
The  present  weak  carbon  black  market  has  made  it 
possible  to  hold  this  splendid  well  in  reserve  for  a  time. 

The  Liberty  Carbon  Company  has  approximately 
$160,000  invested  in  this  plant,  including  4^  miles  of 
gathering  pipe  line,  with  which  it  maintains  connections 
with  its  wells  in  the  field.  The  company  uses  twelve 
gas  wells  which  are  located  on  leases  owned  by  the 
Keystone  Gas  Company.  All  of  these  wells  are  not 
used  at  the  same  time,  but  are  drawn  upon  alternately, 
generally  in  groups  of  fours,  while  the  remaining  eight 
are  allowed  to  recuperate. 

At  the  present  time  the  Liberty  Carbon  Company  is 
using  an  open  flow  of  approximately  2,250,000  cubic  feet 
of  gas  per  day,  making  approximately  4,500  pounds  of 
carbon  black  per  day.  This  production  amounts  to  little 
less  than  2  pounds  per  one  thousand  cubic  feet  of  gas. 
About  50  per  cent  of  the  production  of  the  carbon  black 
of  this  plant  is  now  being  shipped  to  Akron,  Ohio,  where 
it  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  automobile  rubber  tires. 
A  much  smaller  fraction  is  exported  to  Germany,  France, 
England,  China  and  Japan.  The  present  selling  price  is 
8  cents  per  pound.* 


Data  secured  from  W.  H.  Davis,  Charleston,  West  Virginia. 


98 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


OPERATION  OF  THE  EASTERN  CARBON  COMPANY 

This  carbon  black  company  is  located  approximately 
two  miles  above  the  Liberty  Carbon  Company's  plant, 
just  below  the  mouth  of  Goose  Creek  on  Right  Beaver 
Creek  in  Floyd  County,  Kentucky.  It  is  owned  and 
operated  by  Davis  Bros,  of  Charleston,  West  Virginia, 
and  was  put  in  operation  in  November,  1920.  It  makes 
carbon  black  by  what  is  known  as  the  Revolving  Disc 


NOT   BATHING — REPAIRING  A  LEAK 

When  a  gas  main  breaks,  the  blow-out  frequently  causes  a  depression 
which  soon  fills  back  with  water.  It  makes  a  disagreeable  job  for  the 
repair  man,  especially  in  winter. 

Process.  The  Eastern  Carbon  Company  owns  two  wells 
in  the  Goose  Creek  region  which  have  a  total  open  flow 
capacity  of  15,000,000  cubic  feet  of  natural  gas.  The 
capacity  of  the  plant  itself  is  about  3,000,000  cubic  feet. 
At  the  present  time  it  is  only  drawing  on  one  well.  The 
average  present  consumption  is  1,500,000  cubic  feet  of 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES  99 

gas  per  day,  from  which  about  3,500  pounds  of  carbon 
black  are  produced.  This  is  slightly  over  2  pounds  of 
carbon  black  per  one  thousand  cubic  feet  of  gas. 

The  original  expense  of  constructing  this  plant  and 
securing  its  gas  reserve  amounted  to  approximately 
$350,000.  The  present  cost  of  operation  is  $120  per  day. 
This  company  owns  gas  fields  of  its  own,  and  also  contracts 
for  gas.  The  plant  is  being  operated  on  a  50  per  cent 
basis  at  present.  The  principal  part  of  the  Eastern 
Carbon  Company's  product  is  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  printer's  ink.* 

VOLUME  OF  KENTUCKY  CARBON  BLACK 

Of  the  two  plants  in  Floyd  County,  Kentucky,  the 
Eastern  Carbon  Company  is  probably  more  efficient,  as 
may  be  noted  by  a  comparison  of  the  production  reports 
of  the  two,  and  also  a  study  of  carbon  black  escape  fumes 
as  seen  in  the  field.  The  fumes  produced  by  the  Eastern 
Carbon  Company  are  not  nearly  as  dense  or  as  large  as 
those  of  the  Liberty  Carbon  Company  plant  at  Langley, 
Ky.,  though  in  justice  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  the 
capacity  and  tonnage  of  the  latter  plant  is  much  larger  than 
the  former.  The  manufacture  of  carbon  black  in  the 
Kentucky  Beaver  Creek  field,  based  on  the  normal 
capacity  of  the  plants  in  operation,  requires  approxi- 
mately 1,250,000  thousand  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  year.  This 
amount  of  gas,  according  to  the  methods  employed,  will 
produce  about  2,500,000  pounds  of  carbon  black,  which 
at  8  cents  per  pound  would  be  worth  about  $200,000.00. 
During  an  extended  period  of  dull  carbon  black  market, 
such  as  the  present,  the  full  amount  of  gas  herein  esti- 
mated might  not  be  entirely  consumed,  and  the  figures 
of  production  in  such  an  event  should  be  correspond- 

*  Data   supplied  by  Mr.  Patterson,   Superintendent. 


100  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

ingly  lessened.  If  this  amount  of  gas  were  used,  it  would 
represent  the  same  amount  as  would  normally  be  suffi- 
cient to  supply  about  30,000  domestic  natural  gas  con- 
sumers for  an  entire  year  in  a  city  four  times  the  size  of 
Lexington,  or  one  three-fourths  the  size  of  Louisville. 

CARBON  BLACK  vs.  PUBLIC  UTILITIES 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  there  should  not  be  any 
question  from  an  economic  standpoint  as  to  who  should 
take  the  natural  gas  supply  of  any  field  that  is  tapped 
by  a  public  utilities  pipe  line.  It  has  been  clearly  pointed 
out  that  when  public  service  corporations  can  afford  to 
pay  as  high  as  10  cents  per  thousand  cubic  feet  on  a 
contractural  period  basis  for  natural  gas,  and  carbon 
black  cannot  be  sold  for  more  than  7  or  8  cents  per  pound, 
that  it  is  better  business  for  the  owner  of  natural  gas, 
though  he  be  a  carbon  black  manufacturer,  to  contract  this 
gas  to  the  public  utility  corporation  than  to  consume  it 
himself  in  the  production  of  carbon  black.  While  this 
would  seem  to  be  a  self-concluding  statement  based  on 
well  known  economic  laws,  there  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
many  special  factors  which  operate  to  alter  the  practical 
operation  of  the  principle. 

The  elimination  of  long  transmission  lines,  their 
expensive  construction,  and  continual  maintenance, 
which  is  one  of  the  large  items  of  cost  to  any  public 
utilities  corporation  supplying  natural  gas  to  a  munici- 
pality, gives  an  initial  advantage  to  the  carbon  black 
industry.  Manufacturers  of  carbon  black  are  forced 
to  expend  but  relatively  small  amounts  of  money  for  their 
gathering  lines,  which  are  always  short  in  length/  small 
in  size,  and  inexpensive  in  construction.  It  is  not  in- 
frequently the  case  that  carbon  black  plants  are  erected 
on  the  leases  themselves  which  produce  the  natural  gas 


OUR  NATURAL  GAS  INDUSTRIES          j    ',  j-  j  ]  101 

used,  though  generally  after  a  short  initial ,  period  jti  Iff 
found  necessary  to  secure  additional  supplies  of  natural 
gas. 

Carbon  black  plants  do  not  find  it  necessary  to  install 
expensive  compressor  stations.  These  "booster"  plants, 
as  well  as  the  main  transmission  line  and  the  intricate 


LOWERING  A  TWELVE-INCH  LINE 

In  this  instance  a  gas  pipe  line  was  lowered  nearly  twenty  feet  in  a 
Jefferson  County  bottom  to  avoid  artificial  drainage. 

system  of  distribution  in  a  municipality,  are  heavy 
burdens  for  any  public  utilities  corporation.  These  items 
find  no  counterpart  in  the  carbon  black  industry.  The 
carbon  black  plant  uses  the  normal  rock  pressure  of  the 
well  or  group  of  wells  under  its  control,  and  finds  these 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


'< Adequate,  whereas  such  pressures  are  of  rela^ 
tively  little  importance  when  matched  against  the  counter- 
balancing friction  encountered  in  a  long  public  utilities 
transmission  line. 

The  total  expenditure  of  capital  required  for  the 
installation  of  a  carbon  black  plant  is  a  relatively  small 
amount  of  money  as  compared  to  that  which  is  necessary 
for  the  proper  establishment  of  such  an  extended  public 
utility  as  a  natural  gas  service  corporation.  The  history 
of  the  carbon  black  industry  is  one  of  repeated  migration. 
Economic  stress  or  the  failure  of  the  natural  gas  supply  of 
the  locality  are  the  usual  causes  of  these  industrial 
movements.  A  review  of  the  history  of  public  utilities 
corporations  reveals  quite  the  opposite.  Operating  under 
long  term  franchises  or  municipal  contracts  with  large 
capital  invested,  these  companies  must  remain  stationary 
within  their  selected  localities.  Natural  gas  service 
corporations  must  provide  adequate  supplies  of  natural 
gas  for  the  present  to  fulfill  their  franchise  requirements, 
and  must  also  secure  sufficient  reserve  for  the  future  to 
insure  the  fulfillment  of  their  municipal  contracts,  as  a 
growing  depletion  of  natural  gas  is  recorded  in  their 
operating  fields.  These  principles  of  operation  are  appli- 
cable to  every  carbon  black  plant  and  every  natural  gas 
public  service  corporation  in  not  only  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky, but  the  entire  Eastern  United  States. 


CHAPTER  IV 
TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT 

The  degree  of  success  attained  in  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  any  theory  is  the  proper  measure  of  its  value. 
The  American  public  of  today  is  amply  justified  in 
regarding  with  suspicion  all  theories  which  do  not  find 
a  sound  and  practical  substantiation.  In  recognition  of 
the  economic  importance  of  the  natural  gas  conservancy 
problem,  and  with  the  thought  in  mind  of  presenting  the 
depletion  situation  concretely,  there  has  been  selected 
from  a  large  correspondence  of  the  writer  a  number  of 
excerpted  statements  relative  to  the  matter  in  hand. 
A  perusal  of  these  statements  will  assist  greatly  in  demon- 
trating  the  magnitude,  intricacy,  and  acuteness  of  this 
problem  which  now  faces  a  very  large  part  of  our  country, 
including  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

Technical  opinions  concerning  natural  gas  conservation 
are  herewith  advanced,  and  while  somewhat  at  variance 
as  to  ways  and  means,  it  will  be  noted  that  the  use  of 
industrial  gas,  especially  that  for  the  manufacture  of 
carbon  black,  is  generally  deplored.  The  statements  of 
carbon  black  manufacturers  and  natural  gas  utility 
corporations  are,  however,  included,  so  that  both  sides  of 
the  case  may  be  seen  in  their  typical  presentation.  Letters 
from  the  mayors  of  cities  both  large  and  small  facing  the 
natural  gas  shortage  problem,  all  tell  the  same  story  of 
inability  of  public  utilities  corporations  to  carry  peak 
loads.  The  gradual  introduction  of  higher  rates  will  also 


104  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

be  noted,  and  with  it  the  general  and  pressing  need  of 
effective  natural  gas  conservation  measures.  The  ex- 
cerpted correspondence  follows : 


GAS  LINE  CONSTRUCTION  IN  JOHNSON  COUNTY 

One  has  but  a  vague  idea  of  the  many  difficulties  which  attend  the 
construction  of  a  natural  gas  pipe  line  until  he  goes  "on  the  job."  This 
is  a  pipe  line  scene  in  Johnson  County  in  the  limestone  ledge  region. 

Philip  S.  Smith,  Acting  Director,  Department  of  the  Interior, 
United  States  Geological  Survey: 

"No  rule  that  will  cover  all  cases  seems  possible.  Rather  the 
utilization  of  the  gas  from  each  district,  or  even  from  each  pool, 
must  be  considered  separately  if  a  fair  conclusion  is  to  be  reached. 
However,  there  are  certain  facts  that  apply  everywhere  which 
should  be  constantly  borne  in  mind. 

"Either  the  public  utilities  or  the  carbon  black  interests  can 
use,  unaided,  more  than  the  total  available  gas.  There  is  not 
enough  for  both  to  operate  unrestricted,  nor  for  either  to  operate 
for  an  indefinite  period. 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  105 


"Neither  industry  is  indispensable.  Artificial  gas,  coal  and 
electricity  can  take  the  place  of  gas  for  light  and  heat;  lamp  black 
can  substitute  for  carbon  black  in  pigments;  zinc  oxide  or  other 
filler  can  replace  it  more  or  less  satisfactorily  in  the  tire  industry; 
and  there  are  substitutes  for  all  its  minor  applications.  Humanity 
will  endure  if  either  or  both  industries  are  abolished.  Relative 
indispensability  is  a  matter  of  argument. 

"Where  the  two  industries  are  in  conflict,  the  public  utilities 
commonly  can  invoke  the  argument  of  priority,  which  undoubted- 
ly merits  some  consideration.  Curtailment  of  the  supply  of  the 
public  utilities  unquestionably  causes  more  actual  suffering  than 
does  the  restriction  of  the  carbon  black  industry. 

"Where  the  two  industries  are  established,  the  public  utili- 
ties represent  greater  investments,  and  damage  to  them  is  there- 
fore a  greater  financial  loss  than  is  damage  to  the  carbon  black 
industry.  The  monetary  value  of  the  gas  taken  from  the  ground 
is  greater  when  it  is  used  through  public  utilities  than  when  it  is 
burned  to  make  carbon  black. 

"All  of  the  above  quite  strongly  favors  the  public  utilities, 
and  to  this  must  be  added  the  action  of  States  that  have  legis- 
lated against  the  carbon  black  industry.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  fields  capable  of  yielding  much  gas  for  which  there  is  no 
market  through  the  public  utilities.  Drilling  activities  may 
prohibit  storing  the  gas  in  the  ground,  and  in  such  occurrences 
the  carbon  black  plants  save  great  waste  and  provide  a  much 
needed  commodity.  There  are  fields  capable  of  yielding  much 
gas  which  are  so  located  that  there  is  small  likelihood  of  their 
serving  the  public  through  public  utilities  companies  for  a  decade 
or  more,  but  where  the  obstacles  to  the  production  of  carbon 
black  may  be  easily  overcome 


H.  Foster  Bain,  Director,  Department  of  the  Interior,  Bureau  of 
Mines : 

"The  National  Committee  on  Natural  Gas  Conservation  in 
Washington,  D.  C.,  June  11,  1920,  passed  a  resolution  which 
reads  as  follows : 


'Resolved,  that  carbon  black  be  made  when  gas  is  pro- 
duced in  isolated  sections  with  no  present  or  reasonably 
prospective  market  for  gas  being  produced,  when  gasoline 
has  been  extracted  and  when  practical  and  modern  and 
improved  methods  are  used.' 

"The  question  of  the  utilization  of  natural  gas  for  the  manu- 
facture of  carbon  black  is  necessarily  a  local  one  and  can  only  be 
decided  after  the  various  economic  conditions  in  the  district 
under  consideration  are  carefully  considered.  .  .  .  ." 


106 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


J.  W.  Hassell,  Chief  Supervisor,  Oil  and  Gas  Division,  Railroad 
Commission  of  Texas : 

"The  use  of  natural  gas  for  the  making  of  carbon  black  is 
prohibited  in  this  state  except  as  permitted  by  Sections  2,  3,  4 
and  5  of  Rule  41  appearing  on  page  21  of  our  Oil  and  Gas  Circular 
Number  12  enclosed  herewith.  Our  Statute,  being  Article  1  of 
an  Act  of  the  36th  Legislature  of  this  State,  and  appearing  on 


NOT  A  QUARRY— A  PIPE  LINE 

The  reason  for  excessive  cost  in  gas  pipe  line  construction  is  made 
plain  by  this  view  on  the  head  of  Raccoon  Creek. 


page  1  of  the  circular,  and  Rule  1,  appearing  on  page  8  prohibiting 
the  wasteful  use  of  gas.  Rule  41  with  reference  to  carbon  black 
was  adopted  after  a  general  hearing,  at  which  hearing  the  Rail- 
road Commission  found  as  a  fact  that  the  burning  of  natural  gas 
in  the  manufacture  of  carbon  black  was  a  wasteful  use  of  the 
Since  the  Statute  prevents  absolutely  the  wasteful  use  of 


same. 


gas  and  since  the  Railroad  Commission  has  determined  as  a  fact 
after  hearing  that  the  burning  of  same  in  the  manufacture  of 
carbon  black  is  a  wasteful  use  of  gas,  the  writer  has  uniformly 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  107 


held  that  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  the  Railroad  Commission 
to  grant  a  permit  except  as  provided  in  the  three  sections  men- 
tioned and  indicated  by  the  blue  pencil  mark  on  the  margin  of 
the  circular. 

"It  is  my  opinion,  as  it  was  that  of  my  predecessors,  Dr. 
George  C.  Butts  and  Judge  S.  P.  Sadler,  that  the  use  of  natural 
gas  for  the  manufacture  of  carbon  black  should  not  be  permitted 
where  it  is  practicable  to  apply  the  gas  to  industrial  enterprise 
and  domestic  use.  Where  a  field  is  so  isolated  or  so  small  that 
it  is  not  feasible  to  carry  the  gas  to  industrial  centers,  or  where 
no  market  can  be  had  for  the  same  or  expected  for  many  years, 
it  might  be  permissible  to  allow  its  use  for  this  purpose.  It  has 
been  contended  by  some  of  the  advocates  for  its  use  for  the  pur- 
pose mentioned  that  the  product  manufactured  would  realize 
more  money  per  thousand  feet  for  the  gas  than  it  could  be  sold 
for  in  domestic  consumption,  but  this  ignores  the  great  value  of 
the  gas  to  the  community  itself.  It  seems  to  me  that  those 
charged  with  the  administration  of  laws  touching  this  question 
should  keep  in  mind  the  value  of  the  article  to  the  community 
rather  than  to  the  individual.  If  gas  could  be  utilized  in  the 
manufacture  of  diamonds,  it  might  be  worth,  say  two  dollars 
per  thousand  feet,  and  a  fair  price  for  it  in  commercial  use  would 
be,  say  fifty  cents.  The  advocates  of  its  use  in  what  may  be 
termed  wasteful  processes  have  claimed  that  since  it  realized 
two  dollars  per  thousand  feet  in  the  manufacture  of  diamonds, 
and  only  fifty  cents  for  domestic  use,  it  would  not  be  a  wasteful 
use  of  the  gas  to  devote  it  to  the  first  purpose.  In  my  opinion  it 
would  be  a  wasteful  utilization  of  the  gas,  since  it  would  deprive 
practically  all  of  the  people  of  its  use  for  the  manufacture  of  a 
non-essential " 

C.  W.  Shannon,  Director,  Oklahoma  Geological  Survey : 

".  .  .  .  In  Oklahoma,  the  Corporation  Commission  has 
ruled  against  the  use  of  gas  for  the  manufacture  of  carbon  black. 
There  has  never  at  any  time  been  more  than  two  or  three  plants 
in  operation  in  the  State  to  my  knowledge  and  there  is  one  plant 
operating  at  the  present  time.  We  have  had  numerous  inquiries 
in  regard  to  the  establishing  of  carbon  black  plants,  but  as  the 
ruling  of  the  Corporation  Commission  is  against  such  industries, 
we  have  not  been  in  a  position  to  recommend  an  attempt  to  estab- 
lish additional  plants. 

"Personally  I  believe  that  under  certain  conditions  carbon 
black  plants  should  be  permitted  to  use  the  surplus  of  gas  in 
certain  fields.  There  is  no  question  but  that  the  methods  used  by 
the  plants  in  operation  have  been  very  wasteful  of  the  natural 
gas  supplies  and  from  a  conservation  standpoint  the  industry 
cannot  be  encouraged.  However,  there  are  many  areas  where 
the  gas  is  not  being  used  for  commercial  purposes,  and  in  such 
localities  carbon  black  plants  could  readily  secure  all  the  gas 
needed  without  in  any  way  decreasing  the  amount  of  fuel  gas. 


108 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


"It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Conservation  Department  of  our 
Corporation  Commission  to  'shut  in'  any  and  all  gas  wells  where 
gas  is  encountered  so  that  in  every  way  possible  the  gas  may  be 
conserved.  During  the  past  few  years  the  recommendations 


"BLOWING  A  GASSER" 

This  gas  well  is  located  on  Bullskin  Creek  in  Clay  County.     It  is  not 
commercialized  at  present. 

of  the  Corporation  Commission  and  the  work  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  Mines  has  conserved  millions  of  cubic  feet  of  gas  in  Oklahoma, 
but  on  the  other  hand  there  are  many  localities  where  sufficient 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  109 


gas  is  going  to  waste  to  run  carbon  black  plants  of  considerable 
capacity.  Under  such  conditions  I  would  favor  the  establishing 
of  carbon  black  plants  under  strict  regulations  as  to  the  extent 
to  which  the  gas  could  be  used. 

"While  Oklahoma  is  still  producing  a  large  volume  of  gas  it 
has  been  necessary  during  the  past  two  years  to  take  urgent 
action  in  regard  to  conserving  the  supply  for  domestic  use,  and 
industries  in  general  have  been  very  largely  cut  off  from  the  use 
of  natural  gas.  .  .  .  ." 

I.  C.  White,  State  Geologist,  West  Virginia  Geological  Survey: 

".  .  .  .  The  proposition  is  a  difficult  one  to  solve.  My 
own  opinion  is,  that  where  there  is  no  market  for  the  natural  gas 
that  has  been  developed  through  drilling  and  no  prospect  of  any 
immediate  market  like  the  great  Monroe  field  of  Louisiana, 
State  Public  Service  Commissions  should  not  prevent  the  utiliza- 
tion of  such  natural  gas  for  carbon  black  purposes.  While  it  is 
true  that  all  of  the  hydrogen  and  much  of  the  carbon  is  lost  in 
the  manufacture  of  carbon  black,  yet  the  net  result  is  a  profit  of 
several  cents  per  thousand  cubic  feet  to  the  manufacturer  of 
carbon  black.  This  latter  substance  also  subserves  many  use- 
ful purposes  and  its  field  of  utilization  is  constantly  widening. 
So  that  from  this  point  of  view  it  has  become  one  of  our  necessary 
industries.  In  our  State  there  has  never  been  any  legislation  on 
the  subject,  and  the  problem  has  practically  solved  itself,  since 
when  natural  gas  became  too  valuable  to  utilize  in  the  carbon 
black  industries,  the  latter  have  sold  their  gas  production  to 
natural  gas  pipe  lines,  and  moved  on  to  other  states  like  Loui- 
siana and  other  regions  where  natural  gas  could  be  secured  cheap- 
ly  " 

Wilbur  A.  Nelson,  State  Geologist,  Tennessee  Geological  Survey: 

"  ....  I  have  always  felt  that  in  a  state  that  is  thickly 
populated,  or  in  a  section  where  natural  gas  occurs  in  centers  of 
population,  that  all  natural  gas  should  be  conserved  for  use  by 
public  utilities.  Such  use  would  make  your  gas  last  for  a  longer 
period  of  time  and  be  of  more  benefit  to  the  people  of  your  state, 
as  natural  gas  generally  decreases  the  cost  of  heating  and  the 
cost  of  living  to  the  people  living  in  the  radius  served. 

"The  use  of  natural  gas  for  making  carbon  black  does  not 
benefit  the  individual  people  of  the  state  except  in  a  far  fetched 
manner  in  what  might  be  shown  to  be  a  slight  decrease  in  the 
cost  of  printing  newspapers,  etc.  From  the  standpoint  of  taxa- 
tion I  should  think  that  all  facts  would  be  in  favor  of  doing  away 
with  the  carbon  black  interests  and  having  all  gas  used  by  the 
public  utility  corporations,  as  this  use  would  bring  in  a  greater 
taxable  return  to  the  state  on  this  natural  resource. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  if  carbon  black  interests  are  to  exiss 
they  must  look  to  those  areas  where  there  are  enormous  gas  poolt 


110  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


like  Homer,  La.,  and  where  the  population  of  the  district  is  sparse 
as  compared  to  the  population  existing  along  the  Ohio  River. 

R.    C.    Moore,    State    Geologist,    State    Geological    Survey    of 

Kansas: 

"  .  .  .  .  the  very  large  public  interests  of  consumers 
of  natural  gas,  particularly  the  domestic  consumers,  have 
higher  interest,  and  right  over  any  manufacturing  interest. 
The  policy  guiding  or  tending  to  guide  control  of  natural  gas 
in  Kansas  is  restricting  industrial  consumption,  so  as  to  con- 
serve a  supply  for  domestic  use." 

G.  B.  Morgan,  State  Geologist,  State  of  Wyoming: 

"  .  .  .  .  The  so-called  anti-carbon  black  law  (of  Wyo- 
ming), Chapter  275,  page  60,  declares  that  the  consumption  of 
natural  gas  in  which  the  heat  units  are  not  fully  utilized  to  be  a 
wasteful  use  and  to  be  unlawful  where  the  sources  of  supply  are 
located  within  10 miles  of  an  incorporated  town  or  industrial  plant. 
It  was  aimed  solely  at  the  manufacture  of  carbon  black  and  is 
the  only  law  that  we  have  governing  its  manufacture.  Carbon 
black,  therefore,  can  be  manufactured  from  gas  outside  of  a  10 
mile  limit  without  violation  of  the  law. 

"The  particular  case  which  instigated  the  law  was  the  carbon 
plant  at  Cowley,  Wyoming,  which  took  its  gas  from  the  Byron 
field,  thereby  endangering  the  future  of  the  field  and  the  interests 
of  the  private  consumers  and  other  industries. 

"The  position  that  this  office  is  taking  in  regard  to  the  carbon 
black  industry  is  one  of  strict  enforcement  of  the  law  as  it  stands 
for  several  reasons.  First,  the  Midland  Carbon  Company  in  its 
operations  in  the  Byron  field  wastefully  used  an  immense  quantity 
of  gas  that  could  have  been  put  to  better  purposes  and  continued 
to  do  so  a  long  time  after  the  law  was  passed  and  even  after  the 
U.  S.  Supreme  Court  decided  that  the  law  was  constitutional, 
they  still  ignored  the  statute  until  forced  to  close  down  by  action 
of  the  Court.  Their  tactics  were  reprehensible  both  in  their 
flagrant  violation  of  the  statute  and  in  their  conduct  at  legislative 
meetings. 

"Personally,  I  believe  that  under  certain  conditions  and  cir- 
cumstances carbon  black  may  be  manufactured  from  natural 
gas  without  injuring  the  resources  of  the  commonwealth  and  in 
fact  as  a  conservation  measure.  There  are  a  number  of  fields  in 
our  State  producing  or  capable  of  producing  gas  for  which  there  is 
no  market  at  the  present  time  and  probably  will  not  be  for  a 
great  many  years.  Wherever  these  fields  have  been  drilled  into 
by  companies  looking  for  oil,  there  has  been  a  great  waste  of  gas, 
and  there  will  continue  to  be  a  waste  of  gas  as  long  as  the  wells 
remain  unplugged.  There  are  several  such  fields  in  this  State 
and  it  would  be  actually  a  conservation  measure  to  put  in  a  carbon 
plant  together  with  a  gasoline  extraction  plant  to  utilize  the  gas 
that  is  now  going  to  waste.  ... 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT 


111 


J.  A.  Bownocker,  State  Geologist,  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio: 

"Natural  gas  has  not  been  used  in  Ohio  for  many  years  for 
the  manufacture  of  lamp  black  and  it  is  therefore  not  one  of  our 


A  TEMPLE  HILL  GASSER    "CLOSED  IN" 

This  Barren  County  gasser  has  been  correctly  closed,  tubed  and 
anchored.  A  blow  cock  is  provided  and  a  rock  pressure  gauge  has  been 
affixed. 

troubles.     In  my  judgment  the  states  should  forbid  the  use  of 
natural  gas  for  such  a  purpose.     I  believe  that  in  West  Virginia 


112  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


the  carbon  black  companies  own  their  own  gas  territory  and  pro- 
duce their  own  supply  of  fuel  and  I  am  not  sure  that  they  could 
be  prevented  from  using  the  gas  for  this  purpose.  As  you  know, 
the  Carnegie  Steel  Co.  has  obtained  gas  in  a  similar  manner  for 
many  years  and  uses  it  in  the  manufacture  of  steel.  These  are 
great  abuses,  but  our  civilization  does  not  seem  to  be  far  enough 
advanced  to  stop  the  practice. 

"In  Ohio  the  State  is  doing  practically  nothing  to  conserve  the 
remaining  gas  supply.  The  companies,  however,  are  working 
faithfully  with  that  end  in  view " 

George  H.  Ashley,   State  Geologist,  Bureau  of  Topographic  & 
Geological  Survey,  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania: 

1  'While  a  small  amount  of  carbon  black  is  made  in  this  State, 
it  is  my  impression  that  no  question  has  been  raised  regarding 
the  matter.  In  general  however,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  position  taken  by  many  of  the  states  is  correct — that  no  gas 
should  be  used  for  the  making  of  carbon  black,  except  such  gas  as 
will  not  pay  for  piping  to  points  of  use — or  in  other  words,  such 
gas  only  for  which  there  is  no  market. 

"In  this  State  (Pennsylvania),  the  price  for  gas  for  domestic 
use  is  increasing  so  rapidly,  that  that  in  itself  is  bound  to  solve 
the  problem,  as  it  is  gradually  approaching  the  price  of  manufac- 
tured gas.  Wells  which  would  therefore  not  pay  for  piping, 
would  hardly  be  large  enough  to  pay  for  establishing  a  carbon 
black  plant " 


STATUS  OF  NATURAL  GAS  SHORTAGE  IN  CITIES 

The  pinch  of  natural  gas  hunger  has  already  visited 
itself  upon  many  of  the  largest  municipalities  of  the  Ohio 
Valley  and  adjacent  regions.  This  is  the  case  in  Hunt- 
ington,  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Columbus,  Cleveland  and 
many  others  less  important  cities.  The  aggregate  urban 
population  affected  by  this  growing  shortage  totals  in 
round  numbers  2,750,000  people.  Of  these  610,000  are 
actual  purchasing  heads  of  families,  the  consuming  unit, 
and  have  invested  on  the  average  $100  apiece  in  natural 
gas  heating,  cooking  and  lighting  appliances.  The  total 
investment  of  the  domestic  consumer  amounts  to  the 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  113 


stupendous  figure  of  $61,000,000.00,  as  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  following  table : 

Natural  Gas  Consumers  and  Investments. 

Domestic  Capital 

Consumers  Invested 

Ohio .  _  385, 000  $38, 500, 000 

West  Virginia 150,000  15,000,000 

Kentucky 75,000  7,500,000 

610,000      $61,000,000 

A  single  separate  item  of  $325,000,000.00,  may  con- 
servatively be  taken  as  the  investment  in  producing  gas- 
wells,  pipe  lines  and  plants  by  the  several  public  utilities- 
corporations  supplying  this  large  and  scattered  popula- 
tion. The  total  investment  involved  in  supplying  and 
consuming  natural  gas  in  this  region  amounts  therefore 
to  $386,000,000.00. 

This  large  investment  faces  a  rapid  depreciation,  as 
do  all  of  the  producing  industries  dependent  upon  it  for 
their  markets,  if  some  effective  measure  of  conservation 
of  the  supplies  of  natural  gas  remaining  in  the  ground  in 
the  southern  Appalachian  region  is  not  introduced  to  con- 
trol the  production  and  consumption.  The  tremendous 
waste  of  natural  gas  must  be  stopped,  and  stopped  at 
once,  at  all  points  from  the  producing  well  to  and  includ- 
ing the  consuming  appliance. 

That  the  natural  gas  situation  is  an  acute  one,  that  the 
shortage  is  real  and  widespread  in  its  effect,  and  that  any 
large  replenishment  of  the  supply  is  impossible,  may  be 
readily  and  authentically  gathered  from  the  excerpts  of 
a  number  of  letters  recently  received  by  the  writer  from 
mayors  of  cities,  public  service  commissioners  and  others, 
well  informed  in  these  matters.  These  excerpts,  which 


114  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

have  been  taken  from  a  large  correspondence  of  similar 
trend,  follow: 

C.  W.  Campbell,  Mayor,  City  of  Huntington,  West  Virginia: 

"I  quite  agree  with  you  that  the  time  is  now  ripe  when  the 
people  of  the  cities  using  natural  gas  should  agitate  the  question 
of  conserving  the  supply  for  domestic  use.  So  far  the  City  of 
Huntington  has  taken  no  action  in  the  matter,  but  the  United 
Fuel  Gas  Company  has  been  calling  public  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  supply  is  being  rapidly  depleted,  and  they  are  now 
asking  an  increase  of  rates  because  of  that  fact,  and  our  Public 
Service  Commission  is  hearing  their  petition,  but  our  people  are 
resisting  their  proposed  increase " 


X.  L.  Pierson,  Secretary  to  John  Galvin,  Mayor,  City  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio: 

".  We  Cincinnatians  realize  that  the  natural  gas 

supply  will  very  soon  affect  us  greatly  here,  on  account  of  a 
shortage  of  same.  A  movement  is  on  foot  now,  that  will  doubtless 
raise  the  price  that  citizens  will  pay  for  gas.  It  is  felt^by  some 
that  if  the  price  of  gas  is  raised,  a  smaller  amount  will  be  used, 
and,  therefore,  the  gas  supply  will  be  preserved  for  a  certain 
length  of  time. 

"I  do  not  think  much  of  this  argument,  but  at  the  same  time 
we  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  but  that,  in  a  few  months,  we 
will  be  paying  a  certain  price  for  the  first  thousand  feet  of  gas 
consumed,  a  slightly  higher  price  for  the  second  thousand  feet, 
etc.,  for  the  third,  fourth  and  fifth  thousand  feet  used " 


W.  H.  Duffy,  Director  of  Public  Service,  City  of  Columbus,  Ohio : 

"  .  .  .  .  No  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  City  of 
Columbus  toward  conservation  (of  natural  gas),  except  that  the 
city  council  has  granted  an  increased  rate  to  the  gas  company, 
they  having  made  the  statement  that  the  only  method  of  conser- 
vancy was  an  increased  rate  which  would  cause  users  to  install 
devices  that  would  insure  the  use  of  less  quantity  than  formerly 
consumed 

John  D.  Marshall,  Commissioner  of  Franchises,  City  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio: 

"  .  .  .  .  Every  one,  I  take  it,  is  interested  in  the 
conservation  not  only  of  natural  gas,  but  of  all  natural  resources, 
and  those  cities  which  are  using  natural  gas  are,  of  course,  par- 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT 


115 


GAS  PIPE  LINES  MUST  CROSS  CREEKS 

One  of  the  obstacles  in  pipe  line  construction  is  the  large  number  of 
creeks  of  Eastern  Kentucky.  Here  a  twelve-inch  line  is  being  laid  beneath 
the  creek  bed. 


116  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


ticularly  interested  in  the  conservation  of  that  fuel.  In  a  rate 
ordinance  which  this  city  enacted  on  December  20,  1920,  pro- 
visions have  been  made  for  conserving  the  natural  gas  by  limiting 
industrial  use  during  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  and  permitting 
the  gas  company  to  refuse  service  where  improper  appliances  are 
used.  The  gas  company,  however,  has  refused  to  accept  this 
ordinance,  and  on  the  contrary  has  attacked  these  provisions  in 
the  courts,  claiming  they  are  unfair  and  impracticable. 

"The  gas  company  in  Cleveland  claims  the  only  conservation 
method  which  will  prove  effective  is  a  sliding  scale  upward  increase 
in  price.  To  this  proposition  the  City  has  not  agreed " 

Huston  Quin,  Mayor,  City  of  Louisville,  Kentucky : 

"  .  .  .  .  The  conservation  of  our  natural  resources  is 
a  subject  in  which  all  good  citizens  are  interested,  and  one  of 
the  most  valuable  of  our  resources  is  gas.  Natural  gas  is  the  ideal 
fuel.  It  cannot  be  replaced  by  any  artificial  product,  which  even 
approximates  it  in  quality  or  in  price.  Many  natural  gas  fields 
are  being  rapidly  depleted,  and  it  behooves  us  all  to  conserve  it 
in  every  way  possible. 

"We  are  doing  everything  we  can  to  conserve  the  supply  of 
natural  gas  in  the  city  of  Louisville.  Every  effort  is  being  made 
to  serve  our  citizens  with  gas  at  as  near  a  uniform  pressure  as  is 
possible,  to  avoid  all  leaks,  and  to  advise  the  consumers  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  their  appliances.  Furthermore,  the  mixing  of  artificial 
gas  with  our  supply  of  natural  gas  at  an  increased  rate  for  large 
consumers  the  past  two  winters  served  as  a  conservation  measure, 
though  it  was  primarily  necessary  to  insure  us  an  adequate  supply. 
The  pipe  line  which  conveys  gas  from  the  field  is  in  excellent 
condition,  and  the  line  loss  is  kept  very  low. 

"The  greatest  opportunity  for  gas  conservation  at  this 
time,  therefore,  is  in  the  field.  Gas  is  being  wasted  by  oil  well 
operators  and  oil  drillers,  but  the  greatest  menace  to  the  con- 
servation and  proper  drainage  of  a  gas  field  is  the  carbon  plant. 
The  process  for  obtaining  carbon  black  is  very  wasteful,  not  more 
than  5  per  cent  of  the  carbon  -content  of  the  gas  being  recovered. 
Furthermore,  a  carbon  plant  can  utilize  gas  at  a  much  lower 
pressure  at  the  well  than  is  necessary  to  make  the  gas  available 
for  pumping  into  a  pipe  line  for  transportation.  Such  a  plant  in  a 
field,  even  though  it  has  a  very  small  acreage  under  lease,  can 
soon  destroy  the  field,  and  unless  the  utility  company  can  procure 
every  bit  of  acreage  in  the  field,  which  is  usually  almost  im- 
possible, the  company  is  constantly  menaced  by  the  possibility 
that  any  little  tract  in  the  field  may  become  the  site  of  a  carbon 
black  plant. 

"Carbon  black  has  its  uses  in  our  industrial  life,  and  in  fact 
it  is  superior  in  some  lines  of  manufacture  to  any  other  product. 
But  there  are  many  gas  fields  remote  from  our  cities,  or  the  pipe 
lines  which  convey  gas  to  our  cities,  that  could  be  used  for  the 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  117 


manufacture  of  carbon  black,  and  in  my  opinion  the  installation 
of  carbon  black  plants  should  be  restricted  to  such  fields,  and 
thus  the  conservation  of  our  supply  of  natural  gas  for  domestic 
use  be  given  a  decided  impetus 

D.  D.  Smith,  Mayor,  City  of  Frankfort,  Kentucky. 

"  .  .  .  .  our  natural  gas  supplies  are  very  limited  in 
nature  and  are  being  rapidly  drawn  upon  by  both  public  utilities 
corporations  and  manufacturers  of  carbon  black.  I  don't  think 
the  public  utilities  corporations  waste  much  gas,  but  I  under- 
stand the  efficiency  of  the  carbon  black  manufacturers  is  very  low. 

"The  amount  of  gas  now  being  used  in  Kentucky  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  carbon  black  would  supply  a  city  of  considerable  size 
and,  if  conserved,  would  put  off  the  day  when  natural  gas  will 
have  to  be  supplemented  by  artificial  gas. 

"The  wasteful  use  of  natural  gas  by  domestic  consumers  is 
another  great  leak  in  the  industry,  and,  although  this  is  paid 
for  by  the  consumer,  it  is  nevertheless  a  great  drain  on  natural 
gas  reserves,  and  will  accelerate  their  early  depletion. 

"The  natural  gas  situation  in  Kentucky,  from  a  standpoint 
of  domestic  consumers  generally,  is  a  serious  one.  Kentucky  has 
never  produced  as  much  gas  as  it  uses.  West  Virginia,  which  has 
given  us  its  overproduction,  is  now  beginning  to  feel  her  depletion 
rapidly,  and  in  a  short  time  we  will  be  forced  to  supply  all  of  our 
gas  ourselves  or  go  without  it 

Grant  P.  Hall,  Mayor,  City  of  Charleston,  Charleston,  West 
Virginia: 

"  ....  Up  to  the  present  time  there  has  been  noth- 
ing done  in  the  city  of  Charleston  looking  towards  the  con- 
servation of  our  natural  gas.  We  have  many  large  gas  fields 
all  around  us  and  on  account  of  it  being  so  plentiful  our  people 
apparently  have  not  fully  realized  the  importance  of  the  con- 
servation of  this  resource. 

"We  have  quite  a  number  of  carbon  black  factories  near 
Charleston.  A  few  years  ago  the  State  Legislature  passed  a 
law  known  as  the  Steptoe  Bill,  which  imposed  a  tax  on  gas 
exported  from  this  State.  The  gas  companies  of  West  Virginia 
attacked  the  constitutionality  of  this  law  and  recently  suc- 
ceeded in  their  contentions. 

"Personally  I  feel  that  it  is  highly  important  to  do  some- 
thing to  prevent  the  extravagant  waste  of  our  gas.  .  .  .  ." 

F.  O.  Eichelberger,  City  Manager,  Dayton,  Ohio: 

"The  matter  of  gas  consumption  has  been  in  the  past  one 
of  considerable  moment  here  in  Dayton,  due  to  the  inability  of 
The  Dayton  Gas  Company  to  furnish  an  adequate  supply  to  its 
consumers,  or  to  maintain  the  required  pressure.  The  question 


118  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


first  came  up  in  1920.  After  numerous  conferences  between  the 
city  officials  and  those  of  the  gas  company,  Samuel  S.  Wyer, 
Consulting  Engineer,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  was  engaged  by  the 
city  to  make  an  impartial  investigation  as  to  the  reasons  therefor. 

"In  summing  up  his  report,  we  learn  that  Dayton  was  merely 
one  of  a  large  number  of  towns  depending  on  the  rapidly  declining 
natural  gas  supply.  It  was  recognized  that  the  situation  was 
acute,  and  will  become  worse  each  year;  that  there  has  been  a 
marked  decline  in  rock  pressure  and  volume  of  old  and  new  wells, 
the  number  of  acres  of  natural  gas  land  held,  and  the  number  of 
producing  wells  per  domestic  consumer. 

"Simultaneous  with  this  decline  there  has  been  a  large 
increase  in  the  number  of  domestic  consumers,  domestic  co  n- 
sumers  demands  for  gas  service,  compressing  station  capacity 
made  necessary  by  rapidly  declining  rock  pressure,  purchase 
price  of  gas  in  field,  compressing  station  operating  cost,  cost  per 
million  cubic  feet  of  open  flow  capacity  of  new  wells,  and  in  well 
operating  cost  and  taxes. 

"The  conclusions  reached  in  this  report  were  that  the  City 
should  prohibit  the  use  of  natural  gas  in  wasteful  appliances; 
that  the  Dayton  Gas  Company  should  carry  out  Recommendation 
No.  17  of  the  National  Committee  on  Natural  Gas  Conservation; 
that  the  names  of  all  industrial  consumers  should  be  secured  and 
made  public  so  that  they  can  be  shut  off  during  the  peak  load 
during  the  cold  season;  that  all  stove  dealers  should  raise  the 
burners  on  all  cook  stoves  before  sale,  and  to  buy  only  approved 
stoves  for  the  future;  that  an  intensive  campaign  to  teach  the 
public  how  to  curtail  waste  in  their  homes  and  get  the  most  out 
of  the  gas  they  are  receiving  should  be  conducted. 

"It  was  felt  that  after  these  recommendations  were  carried 
out  the  quality  of  the  service  would  be  greatly  improved,  and  that 
unless  strict  attention  was  paid  to  all  conservation  recommenda- 
tions, then,  in  so  far  as  this  city  was  concerned,  the  benefits  of 
natural  gas  would  be  a  thing  of  the  past  in  a  few  years. 

"This  the  city  did,  through  propaganda  over  our  own  signa- 
ture, as  well  as  an  educational  campaign,  indorsed  and  aided  by 
us  and  carried  on  by  the  local  gas  company,  and  in  addition, 
passed  an  ordinance  fixing  the  price  of  gas  at  a  rate  over  the 
previous  ordinances,  all  of  which  we  believe  greatly  benefited  the 
local  situation.  The  pressure  required  was  reduced  two  ounces, 
so  that  this  sums  up  in  a  few  words  our  local  experience. 

"We  believe  the  citizens  are  fully  aware  of  the  decreasing 
facilities  of  the  natural  gas  companies  and  are  conserving 
wherever  possible  its  usage.  This  winter,  as  well  as  last,  being 
open  winters  in  this  locality,  aided  in  this  conservation,  and  yet, 
we  hesitate  to  state  what  conditions  might  be  in  the  future. 
Seemingly,  the  only  solution  being  the  creation  of  an  artificial 
supply  when  the  natural  gas  has  become  exhausted 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  119 


E.  N.  Jones,  'Secretary  to  W.  A.  Magee,  Mayor,  City  of  Pitts- 
burgh, Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania: 

"  .  .  .  .  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  has  done  nothing  in 
the  matter  of  the  conservation  of  natural  gas.  What  waste 
has  taken  place  in  the  use  of  this  commodity  has  occurred 
principally  in  the  gas  fields  near  which  are  located  the  waste- 
ful carbon  black  plants. 

"At  the  present  time  the  rates  for  natural  gas  in  the  city 
of  Pittsburgh  have  reached  the  point  where  it  has  become 
cheaper  to  use  coal  for  household  heating  purposes  than  gas. 
"Relative  to  the  manufacture  of  carbon  black,  it  may 
interest  you  to  know  that  the  Guffey-Gillespie  Gas  Products 
Corporation,  of  this  city,  has  under  way  the  construction  of 
two  plants  in  the  South  for  the  manufacture  of  carbon  black 
under  new  methods  which  will  allow  them  to  obtain  approxi- 
mately ten  pounds  of  carbon  black  per  thousand  cubic  feet  of 
gas  as  against  one  pound  obtained  under  present  methods." 

Ralph  Arnold,  Consulting  Geologist,  New  York  City: 

"  .  .  .  .  the  oil  and  gas  industry  offers  an  illustration 
of  two  of  our  wasting  assets  that  have  been  subject  to  a  prodigal 
use  and  are  still  subject  to  much  abuse  in  spite  of  the  warnings 
sounded  by  those  private  and  government  geologists  who  have 
dared  to  face  the  ridicule  of  the  operators  and  even  some  of  their 
own  profession.  It  is  true  that  the  quantitative  estimates  have 
varied  and  have  as  a  rule  been  revised  upward  as  more  and  more 
data  became  available,  but  still  in  the  main  the  effort  to  bring 
home  the  limited  character  of  our  oil  and  gas  deposits  to  both 
those  who  produce  and  utilize  these  substances,  seems  fully 
justified  by  the  trend  of  events.  In  the  case  of  the  most  prolific 
of  the  Mexican  oil  fields,  a  great  saving  of  both  oil  and  invest- 
ments would  have  been  accomplished  had  the  warnings  of  the 
economic  geologist  been  heeded. 

"In  view  of  the  good  that  has  been  accomplished  in  the 
past  through  the  work  of  experts  in  pointing  out,  either  quanti- 
tatively or  abstractly,  the  limits  of  our  mineral  or  other  natural 
resources,  it  seems  almost  superfluous  to  attempt  a  justification 
of  these  efforts  or  to  suggest  that  it  is  not  only  the  right  of  the 
economic  geologist  but  his  duty  to  make  such  estimates  and  state- 
ments as  will  safeguard  the  proper  recovery  and  utilization  of 
our  wasting  natural  assets."* 

W.  H.  Davis,  Cons.  Eng.,  Eastern  Carbon  Black  Co.,  Charleston, 

West  Virginia: 

"We  have  been  manufacturing  carbon  black  at  Osborne, 
Kentucky,  for  the  last  twelve  months,  and  have  a  production  at 
present  of  3200  pounds  per  day,  which  will  be  increased  to  about 


*  "One  Duty  of  the  Economic  Geologist,"   Economic  Geology,  Volume 
XVI,  Number  8*  December,  1921. 


120  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


double  that  amount  as  soon  as  the  additional  units  we  are  now 
putting  in  are  in  operation. 

"We  cannot  say  exactly  the  amount  of  gas  required  for  each 
pound,  as  we  are  not  metering  the  gas  for  that  plant.  We  endeavor 
to  waste  as  little  gas  as  possible.  Our  factories  are  equipped  with 
electric  lighting  system  for  both  our  plant  and  dwelling  houses, 
and  we  do  not  use  any  steam  boilers  except  in  connection  with  the 
drilling.  We  use  precaution  in  regard  to  line  leaks,  and  do  not 
blow  our  lines  in  the  open  as  we  have  drips  to  take  care  of  the 
water,  and  seldom  open  the  tops  of  any  of  our  wells.  We  are 
using  the  gas  at  Osborne,  Kentucky,  from  two  wells,  either  one 
of  which  will  run  our  plant  to  its  full  capacity. 

"There  has  always  been  considerable  agitation  in  regard  to 
the  waste  of  gas  in  producing  carbon  black,  as  the  carbon  in  the 
natural  gas  weighs  many  times  as  much  as  the  product  we  take 
from  it.  This  carbon,  however,  is  not  what  is  known  to  the  trade 
as  carbon  black. 

"  .  .  .  We  could  produce  a  great  deal  more  weight 
with  a  thousand  feet  of  gas  than  we  are  producing,  but  we  have 
learned  from  experience  that  when  we  produce  much  more  than 
two  pounds  to  the  thousand  cubic  feet  the  quality  is  so  poor  that 
it  is  almost  unmarketable. 

"While  carbon  gas  black  is  used  for  paint,  rubber  compounds, 
phonograph  records,  shoe  and  stove  polish,  etc.,  seven-eighths 
of  the  black  made  by  the  Eastern  Carbon  Black  Company  for 
the  last  twenty  years  has  been  used  for  printer's  ink.  It  seems 
strange  to  us  that  there  would  be  such  an  adverse  opinion  to  an 
industry  that  produces  a  product  that  has  no  substitute  and  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  humanity,  as  millions  and 
millions  of  people  receive  a  direct  benefit  of  the  products  of 
carbon  gas  black,  while  only  a  few  thousands  receive  benefits 
from  gas  where  used  for  domestic  consumption." 

A.  B.  Koontz,  General  Consul,  Associated  Producers  of  Natural 
Gas  Carbon  Black,  Charleston,  West  Virginia: 

"  .  .  .  .  there  should  be  used  the  common  sense 
methods  of  preventing  waste  such  as  flambeau  lights,  line  and 
connection  leakage,  open  flow  of  wells  for  indefinite  periods, 
improper  plugging  of  wells  when  abandoned,  improper  casing 
to  prevent  water  from  getting  into  producing  sands,  etc. 

"In  the  States  mentioned  (Southern  Appalachian  Common- 
wealths) the  statutes  could  be  much  improved.  Indiana  has 
some  good  laws  as  have  Oklahoma  and  Texas.  Yet  in  Texas 
there  is  now  being  wasted  a  great  deal  of  natural  gas.  The 
law  requiring  the  cementing  of  the  hole  at  the  top  of  the  sand 
permitting  it  to  stand  for  a  number  of  days  to  "set"  before 
drilling  in,  is  in  my  judgment  a  very  good  law.  In  a  formation 
such  as  they  have  there,  it  is  impossible  to  safely  anchor 
casing  except  in  this  way. 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  121 


"While  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia  have  some 
statutes  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  waste  in  connection 
with  the  drilling  and  operating  of  oil  and  gas  wells,  they  are 
heeded,  generally  speaking,  as  the  operator  sees  fit  to  heed 
them,  and  when  not  heeded  there  is  no  practical  way  to  prose- 
cute the  violator.  And  besides  this  when  the  violation  is  made 
the  field  may  be  irreparably  damaged  and  a  punishment  of 
the  violator  will  avail  nothing  to  the  public  in  the  way  of  gas 
conservation. 

"The  companies  solely  in  the  oil  and  gas  business  are  very 
likely  to  take  whatever  steps  necessary  to  protect  the  strata 
from  which  production  comes,  even  though  they  may  be  lax 
about  conserving  the  products  above  ground,  but  the  wild- 
catter or  promoter  will  take  no  steps,  unless  forced  to  do  so, 
to  protect  the  oil  and  gas  strata,  the  coal  seams  or  the  surface. 
In  the  event  of  a  strike  the  promoter  handles  his  product  in 
such  a  way  as  to  get  the  most  money  in  the  shortest  time,  and 
with  no  regard  to  the  effect  upon  the  field  in  which  he  is 
operating. 

"A  State  Inspector,  such  as  is  provided  for  in  Indiana  or 
a  practical  man  as  the  representative  of  the  Utilities  Com- 
mission to  see  that  the  laws  herein  mentioned  are  enforced, 
would  be  welcomed  by  the  substantial  operators,  should  be 
provided  for  the  promoters,  and  would  be  of  untold  service  to 
the  public  in  prolonging  the  life  of  gas  fields. 

"All  of  the  above  applies  to  the  production  and  distribu- 
tion of  gas  and  is  important,  but  just  as  important  is  some 
education  to  awaken  the  public  to  the  fact  that  natural  gas  is 
being  wasted  by  it,  and  to  the  fact  that  in  order  to  have 
natural  gas  for  any  great  number  of  years,  it  must  'pay  the 
price.' 

"Usually  when  natural  gas  is  first  furnished  a  community 
it  is  at  such  a  low  price  that  no  attention  whatever  is  paid  to 
the  amount  used.  If  it  is  not  sold  on  a  flat  or  monthly  rate  it 
is  sold  at  a  few  cents  per  M  cubic  feet,  and  in  either  event  it 
is  not  too  costly  to  have  had  burners,  flambeau  lights,  etc. 
Various  compilations  of  figures  for  different  towns  show  that 
as  the  price  of  gas  goes  up  the  quantity  used  by  each  con- 
sumer diminishes. 

"In  order  for  a  public  service  company  to  make  a  fair 
return  on  investment,  consumers  who  will  take  gas  during  the 
entire  year  must  be  furnished  and  this  means  the  furnishing 
of  factories.  Domestic  consumers,  who  use  a  substantial 
amount  only  for  three  or  four  months  during  the  year  must 
either  pay  such  a  price  that  will  justify  conservation  for 
domestic  purposes  only,  or  permit  all-year  consumers  to 
rapidly  exhaust  the  supply. 

"Our  utility  commissions,  of  course,  can  regulate  the  use 
of  gas  as  between  domestic  and  factory  consumers.  To  this 
might  be  added  the  power,  if  it  does  not  already  exist  (exer- 


122  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


cised  by  Mr.  Gregory  during  the  war)  to  regulate  the  use  of 
gas  as  between  domestic  consumers.  (The  legality  of  this 
might  be  questioned.) 

"In  summarizing  I  would  say: 

"Correct  the  present  statutes  so  that  waste  in  any  sub- 
stantial quantities  will  be  made  unlawful. 

"Provide  a  practical  way  for  the  enforcement  of  the 
statutes. 

"Educate  the  public  so  that  it  may  appreciate  the  fact 
that  natural  gas  will  not  last  forever,  and  that  there  is  a  duty 
on  it,  as  well  as  on  the  producing  and  distributing  companies 
to  conserve. 

"The  producing  and  distributing  companies  owe  a  duty  to 
the  public  and  the  public  likewise  owes  a  duty  to  those 
companies." 

T.  J.  Tonkin,  Supt.  Central  Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Company, 
Mt.  Sterling,  Ky. : 

"As  to  the  profligate  use  of  gas,  I  have  observed  practices 
that,  to  me  at  least,  seem  criminal.  All  too  frequent  is  the  con- 
tinuous use  of  open  torches,  or  flambeaux,  by  farmers  having 
wells  on  their  premises,  as  a  means  of  reducing  the  well  pressure, 
millions  of  feet  of  gas  going  to  waste  when  a  twenty  dollar  regular 
would  handle  it  properly  and  without  waste.  Free  and  unlimited 
use  of  gas  as  a  part  of  the  consideration  to  the  land  owner  should 
not  be  permitted.  Careless  and  indifferent  ways  of  tubing  and 
packing  when  wells  are  drilled  in  new  territory  seems  not  to  be 
the  exception,  and  enough  gas  is  daily  going  to  waste  in  this  way 
in  some  of  the  small  fields  not  as  yet  connected  to  pipe  lines  to 
supply  a  fairly  good  sized  town." 

Donald  McDonald,  Vice  President  and  General  Manager,  Louis- 
ville Gas  and  Electric  Company,  Louisville,  Ky. : 

"  .  .  .  .  The  conservation  of  natural  gas  I  consider  an 
exceedingly  important  matter.  Where  communities  have  become 
accustomed  to  the  use  of  natural  gas,  especially  for  cooking,  the 
failure  of  it  causes  an  amount  of  suffering  and  inconvenience 
which  is  truly  surprising.  Any  steps  which  can  be  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  waste  of  gas  and  the  consequent  hastening  of  the  ex- 
haustion of  the  fields,  will  be  welcomed  by  this  company.  .  .  ." 


TREND  OF  CRITICAL  COMMENT  123 


George  Otis  Smith,  Director,  United  States  Geological  Survey: 

The  largest  degree  of  national  usefulness  will  be  won  from 
our  mineral  resources  only  through  the  highest  industrial  effi- 
ciency, which  is  in  turn  secured  by  engineering  advance  and  the 
linking  up  of  mechanical  power  and  man  power.  This  means  to 
the  end  is  typically  American,  but  too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  put 
upon  the  importance  of  governmental  action  that  is  constructive 
in  its  cooperation  with  industry.  While,  unfortunately,  public 
regulation  seems  to  start  usually  with  measures  that  are  wholly 
restrictive  in  effect,  because  too  often  abuse  of  privilege  has  led 
to  the  legislative  action,  yet  regulatory  measures  can  be  truly 
promotive,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  recent  cooperation  of  busi- 
ness and  the  Government.  Public  interest  and  private  interest 
in  the  long  run  are  less  antagonistic  than  either  the  captain  of 
industry  or  the  public  servant  has  suspected.  It  is  true  that 
the  measure  of  economic  worth  must  be  the  welfare  of  the  individ- 
ual, the  community,  and  the  people  of  the  Nation,  and  not  the 
dollar  of  profit  to  the  corporation  or  the  State,  yet  only  a  success- 
ful industry  can  be  made  to  serve  both  owner  and  workman  and 
the  public  as  well.* 


*  "The  Economic  Limits  to  Domestic  Independence  in  Minerals," 
George  Otis  Smith,  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1917,  Part  I, 
p.  6a,  pub.  Dec.  28,  1918. 


CHAPTER  V 
NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION 

Problems  involving  the  conservation  of  natural  gas 
and  mineral  resources  are  intricate  ones.  Great  difficulties 
confront  the  serious  and  impartial  investigator  at  every 
turn,  for  although  the  general  principles  which  should 
govern  the  situation  are  for  the  most  part  well  defined, 
the  special  conditions  which  surround  each  problem  are 
individual  to  it,  and  require  a  separate  solution.  What 
is  true  in  principle  of  the  conservation  of  natural  resources 
as  a  whole,  is  also  true  in  the  same  way  of  the  conservation 
of  natural  gas,  one  of  these  resources,  in  particular. 

It  has  been  stated  that,  "in  reference  to  natural  gas, 
a  great  and  pressing  necessity  is  to  stop  its  appalling  waste 
by  enacting  and  enforcing  proper  legislation.  This  ideal 
fuel  should  be  used  with  the  severest  economy  in  order  to 
prolong  its  life,  which  will  be  brief  at  best."*  The  study 
of  existing  conditions  of  supply  and  demand  and  their 
probable  future  trend  of  relationship,  affords  a  basis  for 
the  consideration  of  the  problems  surrounding  the 
conservation  of  natural  gas.  It  is  definitely  known 
that  the  natural  gas  ..supplies  once  considered  illimitable 
are  in  fact  very  limited,  and  rapidly  approaching  exhaus- 
tion. The  word  rapidly  may  be  used  in  its  fullest  sense, 
for  there  is  probably  no  other  natural  resource  in  all  the 
world,  certainly  not  in  the  United  States,  which  is  as  near 
commercial  exhaustion  as  is  natural  gas. 

Regardless  of  what  his  special  interest  may  be, 
whether  consumer  or  non-consumer  of  natural  gas,  paid 
servant  director  of  a  public  service  corporation,  or 


.  *  Conservation  of  Natural  Resources  in  the   United  States,  by  C.  R. 
Van  Hise. 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION  125 

owner  of  a  carbon  black  factory,  the  man  of  broad  judg- 
ment can  have  no  fight  with  the  principles  of  true  conser- 
vation. The  ideals  of  conservation  do  not  allow  of  an  idle 


WHAT   THE   CONSUMER  DOES  NOT  KNOW 

Practically  all  of  the  gas  main  leaks  are  difficult  and  disagreeable  to 
repair.  Yet  repairs  should  be  made  promptly  to  avoid  great  economic  loss 
of  natural  gas. 

hoarding  of  the  volume  of  any  natural  resource,  nor  the 
perpetuation  of  capitalistic  monopolies,  under  the  cloak  of 
future  public  interest.  True  conservation  implies  a  wise 
and  continuous  use  of  natural  resources,  a  use  which  will 


126  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

be  efficient  in  the  highest  degree,  while  it  extends  far  into 
the  future  the  period  of  life  of  the  resource  involved. 
Conservation  also  implies  the  principle  of  equity — the 
greatest  good  for  the  greatest  number — and  it  is  along 
this  last  line  that  some  of  the  most  delicate  and  intricate 
questions  of  the  whole  problem  of  conservation  arise. 

In  the  natural  gas  industry,  the  fiercely  competing 
interests,  recognizing  in  many  cases  the  validity  and  merits 
of  their  opponents'  contentions,  present  their  cases  much 
as  do  opposing  counsel.  The  endeavor  is  made  to  offer 
the  most  plausible  reasons  for  their  own  position  and  at 
the  same  time  to  belittle  and  depreciate  that  of  their 
opponents.  The  actuating  motives  thus  unfortunately 
become  selfish  ones,  backed  by  monetary  consideration. 
Little  thought  is  given  to  a  fair  and  impartial  solution  of 
the  problem  from  the  standpoint  of  the  best  interests  of 
the  general  public. 

The  producer  of  natural  gas  on  leased  property  is  not 
concerned,  does  not  want  to  be  concerned,  at  all  in  the 
matter  of  the  most  efficient  present  and  extended  use  of 
the  supplies  which  he  controls.  His  interest  is  based  on 
that  unsound  yet  widely  popular  principle  of  American 
business  which  requires  the  largest  possible  return  in  the 
shortest  possible  period.  Naturally,  to  gain  his  ends  he 
cannot  consider  any  broad  principle  of  conservation,  as 
his  selfish  motives  necessarily  imply  a  disregard  of  true 
conservation. 

OWNERSHIP  OP  NATURAL  RESOURCES 

It  is  a  nice  question  as  to  whom  the  stores  of  natural 
gas  really  belong.  Just  how  far  the  principle  of  public 
interest,  based  on  ultimate  consumption,  may  enter,  as 
compared  with  that  of  individual  ownership,  based  on 
discovery  and  exploitation,  is  at  the  present  stage  of  our 
social  development,  uncertain.  If  we  follow  the  statutes, 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION 


127 


READY  FOR  THE  GAS  MAIN 

A  twelve-foot  ditch  in  Eastern  Kentucky  prepared  for  the  laying  of  the 
large  transmission  line  of  a  Central  Kentucky  city. 


128  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

we  cannot  do  much  more  than  recognize  the  right  of  the 
discoverer  and  owner,  though  we  may  plead  quite 
properly  the  sound  principles  of  public  interest.  Having 
produced  natural  gas,  in  Kentucky  it  is  the  owner's  full 
and  legal  right  to  dispose  of  it  or  use  it  in  almost  any  way 
that  he  chooses.  In  fact  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  100 
per  cent  waste  of  the  natural  gas  under  any  lease  in 
Kentucky,  if  the  owner  chooses  to  allow  it.  While  the 
regulations  governing  natural  gas  production  are  plainly 
stated  in  the  statutes,  it  may  be  said  in  truth  that  they 
are  easily  circumvented  in  the  field. 

In  spite  of  our  inelastic  intellectual  and  legal  inher- 
itances, there  are  many  signs  of  an  awakening  conscious- 
ness among  the  people  of  Kentucky  as  to  the  ultimate 
ownership  of  the  limited  natural  resources.  Various 
items  in  the  current  press,  speakers  before  public  audiences 
and  legislators  in  our  General  Assembly  are  gradually 
developing  and  popularizing  the  idea  of  a  fundamental 
social  interest  in  all  irreplaceable  natural  resources  of 
Kentucky.  The  trend  of  this  new  conception  is  much 
higher  and  its  ultimate  possibilities  are  vastly  greater 
than  that  which  until  yesterday  was  defined  as  personal 
ownership.  Quite  recently  a  representative  from  a  great 
oil  producing  county  in  Kentucky  stood  in  the  House  at 
Frankfort  and  proposed  a  small  tonnage  tax  on  coal, 
giving  as  his  reason  the  fact  that  the  men  who  chiefly 
profited  by  it  did  not  produce  it;  they  simply  mined  it, 
sold  it,  and  left  nothing  in  its  place.  A  contemporaneous 
writer  discussing  the  great  rock  asphalt  deposits  of 
Kentucky  has  recently  said  that  the  people  of  this  state 
have  a  right  to  have  their  rock  asphalt  developed  so  that 
they  may  use  it  more  widely. 

There  is  much  in  the  growing  public  opinion  of  today 
which  indicates  a  tendency  to  regard  the  personal  owner- 
ship of  mineral  resources  much  in  the  light  of  custodian- 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION  129 

ship.  It  is  pointed  out  that  the  value  of  all  mineral  re- 
sources is  created  by  society  in  general.  The  ultimate 
consumer  of  every  ton  of  coal,  every  gallon  of  oil  and  every 
pound  of  metal  is  the  one  who  makes  the  mining  of  these 
mineral  resources  possible  and  profitable.  A  ton  of  coal 
may  not  always  be  sold  as  coal.  A  ton  of  iron  ore  has  not 
reached  the  ultimate  purchaser  when  it  is  dumped  out 
at  the  smelter.  Each  may  re-appear  as  a  jack-knife  or  a 
hinge  or  an  automobile.  Taken  collectively,  the  countless 
individual  consumers  of  these  manufactured  products 
are  known  as  society.  It  is  the  great  social  demand  which 
makes  possible  and  profitable  the  mining  of  coal  and  the 
production  of  the  iron  ore.  It  is  the  social  demand,  now 
rapidly  increasing,  which  has  created  the  profound 
interest  in  the  intelligent  and  efficient  use  of  these  and  all 
other  mineral  resources  of  our  country. 

DOMESTIC  AND  INDUSTRIAL  GAS  WASTES 
In  the  use  of  natural  gas  it  is  easier  to  see  in  the 
domestic  consumer,  the  ultimate  consumer,  than  it  is  in 
many  other  natural  resources.  In  this  same  proportion  it 
should  be  easier  to  see  the  principle  involved.  The  use  of 
natural  gas  in  all  of  the  large  industries  is  more  or  less 
wasteful.  In  fact,  waste  attaches  to  every  form  of  use  of 
natural  gas,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  the  domestic  consumer 
undoubtedly  represents  a  higher  degree  of  efficiency  of 
use  than  any  other.  Great  industrial  waste  in  natural 
gas  consumption  attaches  to  the  glass  manufacturing 
industry,  the  zinc  smelting  industry,  and  the  carbon 
black  manufacturing  industry.  Of  these  three  the  greatest 
waste  attaches  to  the  last,  for  carbon  black  manufacture  is 
considerably  less  than  5  per  cent  efficient. 

While  great  waste  attaches  to  the  use  of  natural  gas  in 
the  glass  industry,  the  relative  stability  of  plants  manu- 
facturing glass  requires  them  to  be  more  or  less  sub- 


130 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


WHERE  A  PIPE  LINE  WITHSTOOD  A  WASHOUT 

Through  the  long  distances  which  the  gas  pipe  lines  in  Kentucky  come, 
many  strange  and  unexpected  things  happen.  Gas  companies  must  be 
careful  to  watch  for  leaks.  Here  a  "bad  washout  did  not  interrupt  the 
service. 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION  131 

servient  to  public  service  corporations,  which  in  turn  now 
properly  require  each  industrial  consumer  to  reduce  his 
waste  by  the  imposition  of  a  sliding  scale  upward  of 
purchase.  Economic  laws,  therefore,  operate  in  this,  as 
they  do  in  the  zinc  smelting  industry,  to  eliminate  some 
degree  of  waste.  Such  laws  do  not  operate  for  the  carbon 
black  manufacturer.  In  most  cases  he  produces  his  own 
natural  gas,  and  in  those  cases  where  he  does  not,  he  is  an 
almost  direct  producer.  He  generally  secures  his  supplies 
of  natural  gas  without  competition  or  impost  of  penalty 
for  such  large  wastes  as  may  creep  advisedly  or  un- 
advisedly into  his  operations. 

A  thoughtful  consideration  of  the  several  problems 
involved  in  the  conservation  of  natural  gas  indicates 
clearly  that  all  industries  using  natural  gas  where  other 
fuel  can  be  substituted  are  opposing  the  principles  of 
true  conservation.  A  review  of  many  of  the  practices 
inherent  in  the  several  natural  gas  industries  discloses 
great  extravagance  in  the  use  of  natural  gas  and  justifiably 
provokes  the  most  severe  criticism.  The  production  of 
carbon  black  by  any  commercial  method  now  known 
must  be  regarded  as  a  very  wasteful  use  of  natural  gas, 
although  the  product  which  is  thus  obtained  is  at  the 
same  time  recognized  as  an  important  semi-necessary 
industrial  mineral  resource  by-product.  Since  the  im- 
portance of  carbon  black  may  be  thus  justifiably  stressed, 
it  becomes  necessary  to  find  a  way  whereby  this  industry 
may  thrive  and  be  rendered  more  efficient  in  its  principles 
of  production,  rather  than  mercilessly  obstructed  and 
rendered  commercially  extinct. 

There  is  little  justification  for  the  wasteful  consump- 
tion of  natural  gas  to  produce  carbon  black  for  export. 
The  citizens  of  Kentucky,  who  are  the  ones  vitally 
interested  in  the  conservancy  of  their  own  limited  supplies 


132 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


of  natural  gas,  will  do  well  to  look  ahead  but  a  few  years 
and  see  a  time  when  natural  gas  will  be  a  very  rare  and 
much  more  costly  fuel  resource  in  Kentucky  cities  than 
it  is  today.  The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  many  of 
our  small  towns  will  be  unable  to  secure  adequate  supplies 


A   "CLOSED  IN"  KENTUCKY  GASSER 

All  gas  wells  should  be  tubed  and  packed  and  "closed  in"  immediately 
after  drilling.    It  is  an  economic  crime  to  let  gas  wells  "blow  open." 

of  natural  gas  at  any  price.  Since  it  is  impracticable  to 
produce  artificial  gas  for  towns  under  5,000  in  population, 
the  question  as  to  what  the  small  town  in  Kentucky  will 
do  then  is  an  open  one.  The  seriousness  of  the  situation 
for  all  the  States  now  using  natural  gas  is  shown  in  the 
following  table,  which  indicates  that  of  the  2,180  towns  in 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION 


133 


the  United  States  that  have  natural  gas,  1,944  are  under 
5,000  population  and  are,  therefore,  too  small  for  manu- 
factured gas  and  must  go  without  gas  service  when 
natural  gas  is  gone.  These  towns  represent  about  one- 
half  of  the  natural  gas  consumers  in  the  United  States. 
Kentucky  has  51  such  small  towns. 


Natural  Gas  Consuming  Towns  and  Cities  of  the  United  States. 

1921 


STATE 

Number 
of  Towns 
Over  5,000. 

Towns 
too 
Small. 

Domestic 
Consumers 
in  Towns 
Over  5,000. 

Domestic 
Consumers 
in  Towns  too 
Small  for 
Manufactured 
Gas. 

Alabama   _ 

o 

2 

o 

102 

Arkansas 

6 

25 

21,000 

742 

California 

13 

57 

96,200 

164,  567 

Illinois 

5 

23 

8,600 

69 

Indiana.  _ 

15 

106 

25,000 

6,032 

Kansas  

22 

113 

78,000 

52,  350 

Kentucky  

11 

51 

77,800 

13,  049 

Louisiana  

2 

17 

7,600 

16,  770 

Maryland  

2 

13 

5,400 

Missouri 

6 

9 

76  800 

3  238 

Montana 

0 

3 

0 

1  198 

New  York  

13 

134 

131,  200 

38,  108 

North  Dakota-  __ 
Ohio 

0 

68 

1 

459 

0 
455  200 

6 
430  676 

Oklahoma 

12 

110 

38  200 

82  307 

Pennsylvania.  __ 
South  Dakota.  __ 
Texas 

39 
0 
11 

505 
2 
49 

242,  600 
0 
55  200 

238i  675 
391 
24  fttt 

West  Virginia  
Wyoming  

10 
0 

267 
5 

31,600 

o 

95,  568 
999 

235 

1,944 

1,350,400 

1,  169,  512 

A  review  of  the  natural  gas  rates  now  in  effect  in 
twenty-five  representative  Kentucky  cities  and  small 
towns  shows  an  average  domestic  flat  rate  of  40>^  cents 
per  M  cubic  feet.  A  comparison  with  the  maximum 


134 


NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


£  a 
05  1 


0)  fl> 

.2-3 


CO  *»S 

<  "g  g 
M 

B  IB 

g  IS 

M  »H  5° 

w  gw 

5  §s 


EH    . 
P* 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION  135 

rate  of  $1.90  per  M  cubic  feet  and  the  minimum  rate  of 
$0.95  per  M  cubic  feet  paid  by  domestic  consumers  in 
cities  surrounding  Kentucky  for  the  use  of  artificial  gas, 
is  at  once  illustrative  of  the  great  advantage  enjoyed  by 
domestic  consumers  of  natural  gas  in  Kentucky.  Once 
the  natural  gas  reserves  of  this  State  are  depleted,  the 
installation  of  artificial  gas  in  our  cities  is  the  next  step. 
When  this  time  comes,  gas  rates  somewhat  comparable 
to  those  of  the  second  following  table  (page  136)  may  be 
expected : 

REPRESENTATIVE  KENTUCKY  CITIES  USING 

NATURAL  GAS 
Rates  in  effect  January  1,  1922. 

Rate 

Name  Per  M  Company  Supplying 

Cu.Ft 

1  Ashland 30c    United  Fuel  Gas  Company. 

2  Barbourville 38-80c  Barbourville  Supply  Co. 

3  Campbells ville 38c    Green  River  Gas  Co. 

4  Catlettsburg 35c    United  Fuel  Gas  Company. 

5  Central  City 90c    Central  Gas  Co. 

6  Clintonville 50c    Blue  Grass  Natural  Gas  Co. 

7  Cloverport 54c    Cloverport  Gas  Co. 

8  Covington 45-60c  Union  Light,  Heat  &  Power  Co. 

9  Frankfort 50c    Frankfort  Natural  Gas  Co. 

10  Greensburg 38c  Green  River  Gas  Co. 

11  Greenup 35c  United  Fuel  Gas  Company. 

12  Inez 35c  United  Fuel  Gas  Company. 

13  Lexington 40c  Cent.  Ky.  Natural  Gas  Co. 

14  Louisa... 35c  United  Fuel  Gas  Co. 

15  Louisville 35c  Lou.  Gas  and  Electric  Co. 

16  Maysville 35c  Maysville  Gas  Co. 

17  Midway 40c  Cent.  Ky.  Natural  Gas  Co. 

18  Mt.  Sterling 40c  Cent.  Ky.  Natural  Gas  Co. 

19  Paintsville 40c  Johnson  Co.  Natural  Gas  Co. 

20  Paris_  _  _ 40c  Paris  Gas  &  Electric  Co. 

21  Russell 35c  United  Fuel  Gas  Co. 

22  Versailles 40c  Cent.  Ky.  Natural  Gas  Co. 

23  Warfield 35c  United  Fuel  Gas  Co. 

24  West  Liberty 20c  Collier  Oil  &  Gas  Co. 

25  Winchester 40c  Cent .  Ky .  Natural  Gas  C o . 

General  average  rate  40.5  cents. 


NOTE — Gas  for  local  companies  supplying  Clintonville,  Frankfort, 
Maysville,  Paintsville  and  Paris  is  furnished  by  Central  Kentucky  Natural 
Gas  Company. 


136  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 


Representative  Cities  of  the  Eastern  United  States  Consum- 
ing Artificial  Gas  and  Flat  Rate  to  Domestic  Con- 
sumer, Effective  January  1,  1922. 

Per  1000 
Cu.  Ft. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Brooklyn  Borough  Gas  Co $1.35 

Brooklyn  Union  Gas  Co 1.25 

FlatbusTi  Gas  Co 1.25 

Kings  County  Lighting  Co 1.50 

Chattanooga. 

Chattanooga  Gas  Co 1.75 

Chicago,  111. 

Peoples  Gas,  Light  and  Coke  Co 1.15 

Far  Rockaway. 

Queens  Borough  Gas  and  Electric  Co 1.40 

Flushing. 

New  York  and  Queens  Gas  Co 1.60 

Memphis. 

National  Power  and  Light  Co 1 . 35 

Nashville. 

Nashville  Gas  and  Heating  Co 1.90 

New  York  City. 

New  Amsterdam  Gas  Co 

Bronx  Gas  and  Electric  Co.,  et  al 1.50 

Central  Union  Gas  Co 1.25 

Consolidated  Gas  Co 1.25 

New  York  Mutual  Gas  Light  Co 1.20 

Northern  Union  Gas  Co 1.25 

Jamaica  Gas  Light  Co 1.20 

Philadelphia. 

Northern  Liberties  Gas  Co 1.10 

Philadelphia  Gas  Works 1.00 

St.  Louis. 

Laclede  Gas  Light  Co .95 

Washington. 

Georgetown  Gas  Light  Co ...  1 . 25 

Washington  Gas  Light  Co 1.25 

Since  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  best  and 
most  intelligent  use  of  the  natural  gas  resources  of  this 
State  would  be  one  directed  toward  the  benefit  of  the 
largest  number  of  our  own  people  and  our  posterity,  it 
may  be  wise  for  us  to  think  seriously  of  drawing  a  line 
between  the  carbon  black  manufacturer  who  produces 
for  domestic  consumption  only,  and  he  who  produces 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION 


137 


either  in  part  or  in  whole  for  foreign  trade  or  export. 
This  suggestion  is  made  in  all  seriousness,  since  it  must 
be  evident  that  there  is  no  way  by  which  the  citizenship 
of  this  State  can  ever  be  adequately  recompensed  for 
the  great  loss  of  natural  gas  sustained.  From  a  domestic 


DRAINAGE  VS.  A   GAS  PIPE  LINE 

In  order  to  avoid  obstructing  a  farm  drainage  ditch  a  twelve-inch  gas 
line  was  here  lowered  eighteen  feet.  In  the  neighborhood  of  large  cities 
natural  gas  transmission  line  construction  is  beset  by  many  obstacles. 

standpoint,  the  total  benefits  derived  from  such  a  traffic 
are  shared  by  a  very  few  selfish  individuals.  The  foreign 
aspects  are  the  improvement  to  a  small  degree  of  inter- 
national commerce  and  the  advancement  of  the  inter- 


138  NATUEAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

ests  of  competitive  industries  in  other  countries.  To 
rapidly  dissipate  in  Kentucky  so  important  and  limited 
a  natural  resource  as  natural  gas  in  the  interest  of  such 
small  returns,  is  not  merely  profligate  negligence,  it  is  an 
economic  crime. 

Besides  the  export  phase  of  the  carbon  black  industry, 
which  to  a  State  like  Kentucky  is  positively  without 
recommendation,  there  are  other  angles  of  the  business 
that  deserve  inspection  and  criticism  from  the  stand- 
point of  conservancy.  Foremost  among  these  is  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  carbon  black  to  such  indus- 
tries as  might  well  provide  a  substitute.  A  splendid 
instance  for  this  class  would  be  the  automobile  rubber 
tire  industry,  where  adequate  substitutes  for  fillers, 
such  as  oxide  of  zinc,  which  was  used  in  the  pre-war 
period,  may  now  be  brought  back  into  service.  The 
inexpediency  of  stifling  the  carbon  black  industry  in  so 
far  as  it  produces  carbon  black  for  the  printing  ink 
industry  of  this  country  is  at  once  manifest.  Here  is  an 
instance  where  there  is  no  known  "just  as  good"  materials 
or  reliable  substitutes.  Newspaper  inks  equal  to  those 
made  from  pigments  of  carbon  black  are  not  known. 
The  great  waste  of  natural  gas  is  here,  to  some  degree 
at  least,  justified,  for  we  must  have  newspapers,  and  we 
must  have  inks  with  which  to  print  them,  in  Kentucky 
as  well  as  everywhere  else  in  this  country. 

COMPETING  INTERESTS  vs.  CONSERVANCY 

The  relationship  of  the  carbon  black  producer  and 
the  public  utilities  corporation  in  the  field  has  not  been 
clearly  defined.  The  principles  of  fair  play  demand  that 
both  should  have  the  same  right  to  search  or  prospect 
for  natural  gas.  When  the  natural  gas  has  been  dis- 
covered, the  principles  of  conservation  enter  into  the 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION 


139 


140  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

problem.  It  now  appears  that  each  should  be  guaran- 
teed an  unmolested  prosecution  of  its  business  so  long  as 
neither  one  nor  the  other  endangers  the  best  interests  of 
the  general  public  in  the  conservancy  of  the  remaining 
supplies  of  natural  gas.  Since  it  is  widely  recognized 
that  natural  gas  supplying  public  utilities  corporations 
approach  nearer  to  a  strictly  efficient  use  of  this  natural 
resource  than  any  other,  and  since  through  them  greater 
regulation  of  the  conservation  of  natural  gas  may  be 
obtained  through  the  rules  of  State  Conservation  Com- 
missions than  in  any  other  way,  their  operation  is  recom- 
mended, while  the  use  of  natural  gas  for  all  wasteful 
industrial  enterprises  must  be  condemned.  This  final 
interpretation  has  been  arrived  at  generally  by  all  con- 
servancy commissions  and  scientific  bodies  that  have 
found  it  necessary  to  give  the  matter  careful  considera- 
tion. 

In  the  light  of  these  interpretations,  the  operation  of 
carbon  black  plants  within  any  large  proven  gas  field 
which  is  serving  through  a  public  utilities  corporation  a 
large  group  of  domestic  consumers,  must  be  considered 
as  a  serious  menace  to  true  conservation.  Isolated  gas 
pools  not  fundamentally  necessary  to  public  service 
demands,  either  present  or  future,  are  without  doubt 
the  rightful  field  for  the  manufacture  of  carbon  black, 
and  it  is  held  that  the  carbon  black  industry  should 
not  only  be  directed  to  such  pools,  but  once  established 
here  should  be  as  carefully  protected  as  possible.  Car- 
bon black's  best  interest,  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
conservation  of  its  available  resources,  may  even  here 
be  safe-guarded  by  proper  legislative  restriction  which 
will  insure  for  it  a  longer  lease  on  the  life  of  its  rapidly 
depleting  supplies  of  natural  gas.  Projecting  the  pre- 
sent uncontrolled  volume  of  the  carbon  black  industry 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION 


141 


A  GAS  PIPE  LINE  NEAR  THE  BIG  SANDY 

In  the  construction  of  this  line,  here  shown  in  progress,  all  the  bare 
area  was  a  large  slip  and  had  to  "be  tile  drained  to  prevent  further 
movement. 


142  NATUBAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

into  the  future,  the  interested  public  may  be  assured 
that  within  a  few  decades  carbon  black  as  a  natural  gas 
by-product  will  be  an  industrial  relic  in  all  of  the  Eastern 
States,  including  Kentucky.  American  carbon  black 
will  then  be  produced  only  in  those  isolated  sections  of 
this  country  where  newly  discovered  supplies  of  natural 
gas  are  far  beyond  the  reach  of  the  public  utilities  pipe 
ines. 

NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION  MEASURES 

As  measures  of  natural  gas  conservation  the  following 
principles  are  recommended  for  gas  field  operation: 
(1)  the  prompt  closing  of  gas  wells;  (2)  the  proper  casing 
of  gas  wells  to  prevent  underground  waste ;  (3)  the  proper 
casing  and  tubing  and  packing  of  gas  wells  to  prevent 
waste;  (4)  regulation  of  the  amount  of  gas  which  may  be 
used  in  firing  well,  drilling  boilers  and  the  method  of  burning 
such  gas;  (5)  outlawing  of  the  use  of  the  gas  flambeaux  or 
torch;  (6)  the  drilling  of  fewer  offset  wells;  (7)  the  proper 
plugging  of  oil,  gas  and  salt  water  sands;  (8)  outlawing  of 
the  practice  of  blowing  gas  wells  to  secure  oil;  (9)  the 
outlawing  of  extensive  blowing  of  gas  wells  in  order  to 
free  them  from  water;  (10)  proper  regulation  of  the 
lowering  of  rock  pressure  in  order  to  avoid  too  rapid  a 
diminution  of  natural  gas  flow. 

To  further  promote  the  conservation  of  natural  gas, 
the  following  principles  are  recommended  for  the  guidance 
6f:^iiblic  s?rv£  (^corporations,  domestic  consumers,  and 
the  interested  public :"{p  regulation  of  inspection,  cover- 
'iA^t^lJakaigp^ga^ljermg,  transmission  and  distributing 
lines;  (2)  the  installation  of  leak  proof  measuring  devices 
by  the  ultimate  consumer;  (3)  the  drying  of  natural  gas 
where  necessary  to  avoid  blowing  drips;  (4)  the  abolition 


NATURAL  GAS  CONSERVATION 


143 


.23 


144  NATURAL  GAS  OF  KENTUCKY 

of  free  gas  and  flat  gas  rates;  (5)  the  abolition  of  cheap 
gas  for  manufacturing,  and  in  its  place  the  institution  of 
a  sliding  scale  upward;  (6)  a  proper  regulation  and 
limitation  of  the  carbon  black  industry  and  all  other 
wasteful  natural  gas  industries  so  that  they  will  conform 
as  nearly  as  possible  or  practicable  to  the  best  principles 
of  conservation;  (7)  the  outlawing  of  exports  to  foreign 
countries  of  carbon  black  manufactured  in  Kentucky; 
(8)  the  standardization  of  heating,  lighting  and  cooking 
appliances  using  mixers  so  as  to  produce  the  most  efficient 
use  of  natural  gas;  (9)  the  compulsory  installation  of 
thermostats  regulating  large  natural  gas  heating  devices, 
such  as  furnaces,  etc.;  (10)  a  discontinuance  of  discount 
practices  by  natural  gas  companies  for  low  pressure  or 
peak  periods;  (11)  the  adoption  by  municipalities  gener- 
ally of  franchise  regulations  providing  for  the  mixing  of 
artificial  gas  with  natural  gas  during  periods  of  increased 
demand  or  peak  load;  (12)  the  education  of  the  public  in 
general  and  the  domestic  consumer  in  particular  concern- 
ing the  rigidly  limited  and  rapidly  diminishing  natural  gas 
reserves  of  Kentucky  and  adjoining  States;  (13)  the 
adoption  by  every  one  of  the  most  efficient  methods  and 
appliances  for  handling  and  consuming  natural  gas,  and 
the  strictest  enforcement  throughout  of  the  principles  of 
true  conservation. 


The  End. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


These  publications  discuss  the  production,  utilization  and  con- 
servation of  natural  gas.  The  several  gas  industries  are 
adequately  discussed. 

1  Ambrose,  A.  W. 

Underground  Conditions  in  Oil  Fields.  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Mines,  Bull.  195,  Petroleum  Tech.  62,  1921. 

2  Arnold,  R.,  and  Garfias,  V.  R. 

The  Cementing  Process  of  Excluding  Water  from  Oil  Wells 
as  Practiced  in  California.  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines,  Tech. 
Paper  32,  Petroleum  Tech.  3,  1913. 

The  Prevention  of  Waste  of  Oil  and  Gas  from  Flowing 
Wells  in  California.  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines,  Tech.  Paper 
42,  Petroleum  Tech.  8,  1914. 

3  Curtis,  Thomas. 

Casing  Troubles  and  Fishing  Methods  in  Oil  Wells.  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Mines,  Bull.  182,  Petroleum  Tech.  57,  1920. 

4  Dykewa,  W.  P.,  and  Neal,  Roy  O. 

Absorption  as  Applied  to  Recovery  of  Gasoline  left  in 
Residual  Gas  from  Compression  Plants.  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Mines,  Tech.  Paper  232,  Petroleum  Tech.  53,  1920. 

5  Ely,  R.  T. 

Conservation  and  Economic  Theory.  A.  I.  M.  E.,  Vol.  54, 
p.  458. 

6  Gilbert,  Chester  G.,  and  Pogue,  Joseph  E. 

The  Energy  Resources  of  the  United  States :  A  Field  for 
Reconstruction,  pp.  26-100,  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum  Bull.  102, 
Vol.  1,  1919. 

7  Jillson,  W.  R. 

Oil  and  Gas  Resources  of  Kentucky.    Ky.   Geol.   Survey, 

Series  V,  Vol.  I,  1919. 

Contributions  to  Kentucky  Geology.    Ky.  Geol.  Survey, 

Series  V,  Vol.  VI,  1920. 

Economic  Papers  on  Kentucky  Geology,  Ky.  Geol.  Survey, 

Series  VI,  Vol.  II,  1921. 

8  Johnson,  R.  H.,  and  Huntley,  L.  G. 

Principles  of  Oil  and  Gas  Production,  p.  99.  John  Wiley 
&  Sons.  1916. 

9  Johnson,  R.  H. 

Legal  and  Economic  Factors  in  the  Conservation  of  Oil 
and  Gas.  Govt.  Printing  Office,  Washington,  1917. 


146  SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


10  Leith,  C.  K. 

International  Control  of  Minerals.  Mineral  Resources  of 
U.  S.,  Part  I,  U.  S.  G.  S.,  1918. 

The  Economic  Aspects  of  Geology.  Henry  Holt  &  Co., 
1921.  See  Chapter  XVII. 

11  McClelland,  E.  H. 

Lamp  Black — A  Bibliography.  Carnegie  Library,  Pitts- 
burgh, 1919. 

12  McMurray,  W.  F.,  and  Lewis,  J.  O. 

Underground  Waste  in  Oil  and  Gas  Fields  and  Methods  of 
Prevention.  Tech.  Paper  130,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines. 

13  Orton,  Edward. 

Occurrence  of  Petroleum,  Natural  Gas  and  Asphalt  Rock 
in  Western  Kentucky.  Ky.  Geol.  Survey,  Series  II,  1891. 

14  Peterson,  Frank  P. 

The  Production  of  Gasoline  from  Natural  Gas.  Pub. 
Bessemer  Gas  Engine  Co.,  Grove  City,  Pa.,  1913. 

15  Pogue,  Joseph  E. 

The  Economics  of  Petroleum,  John  Wiley  and  Sons,  1921. 

16  Rogers,  G.  Sherburne. 

The  Cleveland  Gas  Field,  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio.  U.  S. 
G.  S.  Bull.  661-A,  1917. 

17  Sievers,  E.  G. 

Carbon  Black  'Produced  from  Natural  Gas  in  1920.  Min- 
eral Resources  of  U.  S.,  1920,  Part  II.  U.  S.  G.  S.,  pp. 
145-149. 

18  Smith,  George  Otis. 

Our  Mineral  Reserves.     U.  S.  G.  S.  Bull.  599,  1914. 
The  Economic  Limits  to  Domestic  Independence  in  Min- 
erals.    Mineral  Resources  of  United  States,  Part  I,  U.  S. 
G.  S.,  1918. 

19  United  States  Geological  Survey. 

Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1888  to  1920,  in 
whole  or  in  part. 

20  Van  Hise,  C.  R. 

The  Conservation  of  Natural  Resources  in  the  United 
States. 

21  Westcott,  Henry  P. 

Hand  Book  of  Natural  Gas,  Metric  Metal  Works,  Erie,  Pa., 

1915. 

Hand  Book  of  Casinghead  Gas,    Metric    Metal    Works, 

Erie,  Pa.,  1918. 

22  Wyer,  Samuel  S. 

Natural  Gas:    Its  Production,  Service  and  Conservation. 
U.  S.  Nat.  Museum  Bull.  102,  Part  7,  1918. 
Present  and  Prospective  Supply  of  Natural  Gas  Available 
in  Pennsylvania.     Private  edition.     1918. 


INDEX 

A 

Page 

Alabama 133 

Appalachian  Region 15 

Arnold,  Ralph 119 

Ashland  16,  72,  135 

Ashley,  Geo.  H 112 

B 

Bain,  H.  Foster 105 

Barbourville  Gas  Field 31,  61 

Barren  County   24 

Beaver  Creek  Gas  Field 30,  31,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37,  69 

Beaver  Creek  Gas  Field,  Map  of 96 

Big  Sandy  River 28,  141 

Big  Sandy  Valley 29 

Bownocker,  J.  A 111 

Brandenburg   26 

Breathitt • 28,  30 

Breckinridge  County 27 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y 136 

C 

California   133 

Campbell,  C.  W 114 

Campbellsville 29 

Carbons   88 

Carbon  Black • 80,  81 

Carbon  Black,  Formation 92 

Carbon  Black,  History 82 

Carbon  Black,  Method  of  Production 89 

Carbon  Black  Production 83 

Carbon  Black  Production  in  U.  S 85 

Carbon  Black,  Users  of 86 

Catlettsburg 72 

Central  City  Gas  Field 31,  58 

Central  Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Co 68,  69,  71 

Charleston    • 16 


148  INDEX 


Page 

China   87 

Cincinnati    , 16,  72 

Cities  Consuming  Natural  Gas 133 

Clay  County 21 

Cleveland . 16 

Cloverport  Gas  Field 31,  64 

Coal,  "Ground  Hogging" 20 

Columbia  Gas  &  Electric  Co 1 30,  69 

Columbus    16 

Conservancy 138 

Covington    72 

Critical  Comment,  Trend  of 103 

D 

Davis,  W.  H 119 

Diamond  Springs  Gas  Field 31,  58 

Duffy,  W.  H--  -  114 

E 

Eastern  Carbon  Co 98 

Eichelberger,  F.  O.,  City  Manager -  117 

Elk  Fork  Gas  Field—  —31,  43 

England 87 

Ethane • 88 

F 

Flat  Gap  Gas  Field 30,  31,  41 

Floyd  County -23,  28,  30,  69,  98 

France   87 

Frankfort   •--  69 

Frozen  Creek  Gas  Field —30,  31,  33 

G 

Glasgow  Gas  Field —31,  57 

Gray  son  County 

Green  County --23,  30 

Green  River  Gas  Field 31,  52,  53 


INDEX  149 


H 

Page 

Hall,  Grant  P.,  Mayor 117 

Hassell,  J.  W •—  106 

Hiseville  Gas  Field--  —31,  57 

Huntington    '—16,  72 

I 

Illinois  133 

Indiana    133 

Inez 69 

Ironton • 72 

Island  Creek  Gas  Field 31,  64 

Ivyton  Gas  Field 31,  45,  46 

J 

Japan 87 

Johnson  County 23,  28,  30,  69 

Jones,  E.  N 119 

K 

Kansas  133 

Kansas  Geological  Survey 110 

Kentucky 72,  113,  133 

Kentucky  Carbon  Black  Industry 94 

Kentucky  Carbon  Black  Volume 99 

Kentucky  Heating  and  Lighting  Co 26 

Kentucky  Natural  Gas  Pools 31,  75 

Kentucky  Pipe  Line  Co 69,  71 

Kentucky  River    134 

Kentucky  Rock  Gas  Co 26 

Kentucky  Towns  and  Cities 77 

Kermit  Station  30 

Knott  County 30 

Koontz,  A.  B 120 

L 

Leitchfield  Gas  Field 31,  55,  56 

Lexington   16,  69,  135 

Liberty  Carbon  Co 93,  94,  95,  97 


150  INDEX 


Page 

Louisa    . 72 

Louisiana    133 

Louisville    . 16,  26,  135 

M 

Magoffin  County 30,  69 

Marshall,  John  D . 114 

Martin  County 27,  28,  29,  30,  31 

Martin  County  Gas  Field 38,  39,  40,  69 

Maryland 133 

McDonald,  Donald  122 

Meade  County 26,  27,  28,  30,  31 

Meade  County  Gas  Field 53,  54 

Menifee  County 27,  28,  29,  30,  31,     139 

Menifee  Gas  Field • 47,  48,  69 

Meredith  Gas  Field 31,  63 

Methane • 88 

Mjdway • 69 

Mines,  Bureau  of 105 

Missouri 133 

Mize  Gas  Field • 31,  45 

Montana 133 

Monticello  Gas  Field 31 

Morgan,  G.  B 110 

Morgan  County •--     70 

Moore,  R.  C -  110 

Moorman  Well 26 

Mt.  Sterling 69 

N 

Natural  Gas  Conservation 124 

Natural  Gas  Consumers--  76 

Natural  Gas  Industries 68 

Natural  Gas  Pools  and  Pipe  Lines--                                     ---  32 

Natural  Gas  Resources  -  -  26 

Natural  Gas  Shortage -  112 

Natural  Gas  Structure  -  -  -  60 

Natural  Gas  Values 73,  79 


INDEX  151 

Page 

Natural  Gas  Volumes 72,  73,  74,  79 

Nelson,  W.  A 109 

Newcombe  Creek  Gas  Field 31,  59 

New  York 133 

New  York  City 136 

Newport 72 

Nitrogens    • 88 

North  Dakota  -  -  133 


O 

Ohio • 68,  72,  113,  133 

Ohio  Geological  Survey 111 

Ohio  River  Gas  Field 26 

Oil  Field  Waste     '—     56 

Oklahoma   133 

Oklahoma  Geological  Survey 106 

Oneida  Gas  Field 31,  49 


P 

Paintsville    69 

Paris • 135 

Pennsylvania    68,  133 

Pennsylvania  Geological  Survey 112 

Penrod  Gas  Field - 31,  59 

Philadelphia 136 

Pierson,  N.  L _.  114 

Pittsburgh  . 16 

Portsmouth 72 

Pressure  Plant  78 

Prestonsburg  Gas  Field 31,  66 

Proctor,  W.  S.,  Gasser 56 

Public  Utilities  -  _  100 


Q 
Quin,  Huston,  Mayor _  116 


152  INDEX 


R  Page 

Red  Bush  Gas  Field 30,  31,  41 

Rock  Fork  Gas  Field 31,  65 

S 

Sexton  Creek  Gas  Field 31,  61 

Shannon,  C.  W 107 

Smith,  D.  D.,  Mayor 117 

Smith,  George  Otis 123 

Smith,  Philip  S 104 

South  Dakota 133 

Sparta  Gas  Field 31,  67 

T 

Taylor  County  23,  30 

Temple  Hill  Gas  Field 31,  62 

Tennessee  Geological  Survey 109 

Texas   ._.  133 

Tonkin,  T.  J 122 

Tug  Fork . 28 

U 

United  Fuel  Gas  Co --29,  69,  71 

United  States 15,  17,  19 

United  States  Geological  Survey 104,  123 

V 
Versailles 69 

W 
Washington 136 

West  Virginia —26,  28,  30,  68,  113,  133 

West  Virginia  Geological  Survey -  109 

Wheeling    16 

White,  I.  C 109 

Williamsburg  Gas  Field--  —31,  50 

Win  Gas  Field 30,  31,  42,  43,  44 

Winchester --69,  135 

Wyoming -  133 

Wyoming  Geological  Survey 110 


YB   15458 


494219 


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